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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23371132">Love Hurts</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fornavn/pseuds/Fornavn'>Fornavn</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moth2Flame/pseuds/Moth2Flame'>Moth2Flame</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>All For The Game - Nora Sakavic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>AFTG Reverse Big Bang 2020, Aaron Minyard is a troubled boy, Aaron is very smitten for katelyn, Angst, Banter, F/M, First Meetings, Fluff, Getting Together, Katelyn Mun falls for a 'bad boy', Pre-Canon, Swearing, canon-typical use of drugs and alcohol, embedded art, he handles this terribly, i cant write anything without banter, its inconvenient, there is some sexy times ahead</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 12:54:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>46,180</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23371132</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fornavn/pseuds/Fornavn, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moth2Flame/pseuds/Moth2Flame</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Aaron Minyard truly believes that the closest he will ever get to finding happiness in this life is watching it happen to other people. That is, until he gets caught up in the smile and the mystery that is Katelyn Mun.<br/>Suddenly Aarons life isnt only about surviving as best he can, but can Katelyn show him what real hapiness is? And if she does, can he figure out how to keep it, or will he walk away when he finds out the price it will cost them both?</p><p>Or, a story where two pre-med students just trying to make it through college have to fight themselves, and their teammates, to try to find the happy ending they both deserve.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Katelyn/Aaron Minyard</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>53</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>AFTG Reverse Big Bang 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I'm not gonna lie, this fic kicked my ass.<br/>Thanks to various complications at the start, I found myself cramming to get this done on time. As a result, its not my best work. If I had more time, I would go back through and streamline it a bit more, but. Here we go I guess.<br/>I have a love/hate relationship with this fic.</p><p>Title is from 'Love hurts' by Incubus because the entire 'this is' playlist absolutely harrased me until I gave in to giving them solo rights over this fic's music.</p><p>First and foremost, thanks so much to gluupor and gabriella for organising this year's Reverse Big Bang 2020, and for allowing me to have many extensions that this fic wouldn't have survived without.</p><p>Secondly, thank you so much to fornavn/fornavngoessexy for their absolutely amazing artwork and prompt which inspired this fic  (I really hope that this what what you were looking for)</p><p>Lastly, but certainly not least, thank you so much to my beta reader makebelieveanything. She helped push me in the right direction this fic needed to go, had to deal with my many, MANY grammar mistakes, and helped me take this scrambled, rambly mess and put in to some sembalance of order and coherency. AND she also wrote me the awesome summary because my brain stopped working and she's just amazing.<br/>Any mistakes in this are purely my own. </p><p>IMPORTANT: I am neither Korean nor am I familiar with the language/culture. I did a bit of research but it wasnt exactly thorough, so please, PLEASE do inform me if my use of variant terms for mother are incorrect, so that I can fix my mistakes.<br/>I dont think theres any trigger warnings for this, but my brain is fried so please dont hesitate to let me know.</p><p>Onwards, shall we?</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Life was about endurance, at least as far as Aaron was concerned.</p>
<p>Aaron couldn’t remember how old he was when he stopped believing in fairytales and happily-ever-after’s . He didn’t know if he’d ever really believed in them in the first place, he’d certainly seen no evidence of it for himself. </p>
<p>His mother had always been one thread away from snapping, one spiral away from spinning out of control. She hadn’t believed in happiness either, it seemed. </p>
<p>His uncle and aunt were functional in that stable way that his mother was not, but being around them was like being around his teachers at school; he was on display, expected to perform and recite his lines and smile and be polite and pretend that he was a good boy. At least at home he didn’t have to iron his clothes or sit down around the table or say his prayers. At least at home he didn’t have to pretend.</p>
<p>His cousin had smiled a lot but Aaron had thought that he didn’t know what happiness was, either. He’d smiled a lot, but it was the kind of smile you see in photographs when the person behind the camera says ‘cheese’ and your cheeks just kind of split open and you bare your teeth.</p>
<p>Automatic. Nicky had an automatic smile.</p>
<p>Aaron was 12 years and 313 days old when he found out that he had a brother. A twin, in fact, apparently identical. Aaron hadn’t been sure if it had been happiness he’d felt when he’d discovered his mother’s secret. It was something, though. Like maybe he wasn’t alone.</p>
<p>When his brother came home it was clear he didn’t know what happiness was, either. Or, if he did, it was a secret he wasn’t willing to share. Andrew had a lot of secrets, like how he managed to buy cigarettes or learnt how to pick locks. Or the one where he murdered their mother.</p>
<p>Life was about endurance.</p>
<p>Aaron Minyard learned that he was willing to endure a great many things, as long as it meant that he didn’t have to be alone.</p>
<p>“Minyard! Get your head in the game or get out! I won’t tolerate your dead weight,” a terribly familiar voice yelled at him from across the court. </p>
<p>Like Kevin Day, who overnight had somehow gone from the top of Andrew’s hit-list to Andrew’s number one obsession. That one was almost worth the inconvenience, because if Andrew was obsessed with Kevin then he was distracted from making Aaron’s life a misery, and Aaron would take any relief that he could get.</p>
<p>So he ignored Kevin Day’s scathing voice like he ignored everyone else in his life who told him he wasn’t good enough. That button had already been bashed too many times, the connections were fried.</p>
<p>“Reggie’s one word away from going after him,” Boyd said to Aaron’s right, standing a few feet away and drinking from his water bottle. “He hasn’t stopped sending murderous glances Day’s way since the third quarter.”</p>
<p>“Nah, man,” Dwayne drawled. “Seth. He’s been itching for a fight since Allison dropped him last night.”</p>
<p>“Ten bucks says you’re wrong.”</p>
<p>“Deal.”</p>
<p>“You’re both wrong,” Allison’s voice cut in. “Neither of them will touch him whilst The Monster’s in goal.”</p>
<p>“That psychopath,” said Dwayne. “How does Day put up with him?”</p>
<p>“More to the point, how does he put up with Day? I thought for sure he’d have killed him by now,” said Allison.</p>
<p>Aaron cut past them, uninterested in eavesdropping on their garbage. They ignored him, and it was exactly the way he liked it. </p>
<p>He was here to play Exy to keep his scholarship, that was it. He wasn’t interested in making friends and he definitely wasn’t interested in making friends with gutter trash like the Palmetto Foxes. </p>
<p>Besides, Andrew would never let him anyway.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>**</p>
<p>Being an identical twin got you a certain amount of attention. Being the identical twin of someone with a dangerous reputation like Andrew Minyard got you a different kind of attention. Some were wary, some oblivious. That was fine. It was the ones who were creepily fascinated that earned Aaron’s vicious scorn.<em> If he had to listen to that sick shit about twins one more fucking time- </em></p>
<p>But then there was Kevin Day and with him came a whole different kind of attention. Mostly, the fanatic kind. Clearly none of these people had spent more than two minutes in Kevin’s presence or their baseless infatuation would have shriveled and died. Some would go out of their way to be nice to Aaron and try to be his friend. That attention was worse.</p>
<p>
  <em>“Hey, you’re on the Exy team, right?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Do you really get to work with Kevin Day?” </em>
</p>
<p>Honestly the amount of times he’s been tempted to pretend that he was Andrew just to watch them skitter away in fear was not even funny.</p>
<p>
  <em>“What’s he like?”</em>
</p>
<p>“An arrogant, condescending asshole,” he’d said on more than one occasion. </p>
<p>And then they’d laugh like he was kidding and Aaron would stare back until they felt uncomfortable and then have to tell them to piss off or move himself away.</p>
<p>It was fucking exhausting.</p>
<p>It’s not that he was jealous. Definitely not. But maybe it did kind of suck knowing that the only reason these girls were smiling at him and talking to him was because they wanted an in with an asshole whose only attraction was to an Exy stick.</p>
<p>But he wasn’t interested in starting anything with anyone anyway, so he definitely wasn’t jealous.</p>
<p>The cheerleaders were the worst, though.</p>
<p>Air-headed and shallow, they were beautiful and they knew it, and they acted like they were entitled. Like you should feel honored that they’d even deign to talk to you. </p>
<p>And yeah, sure, maybe Aaron’s gaze followed the short hems of their skirts to the generously exposed bare thighs and the muscled expanses of toned midriffs, but he was a red-blooded male with an active libido. He could hardly be blamed for looking.</p>
<p>And, okay, maybe his brain had short-circuited a little when all that exposed skin and those perfectly painted faces had managed to corner him in the library. He was running on three hours sleep, and his coffee had stopped working for him after the fourth cup he’d finished over an hour ago. </p>
<p>Words were starting to run together on the page. </p>
<p>It made sense that he was a little on edge.</p>
<p>So when these pretty girls had come into his space, completely erasing any train of thought he was trying to keep together, and mentioned Kevin Day, well, he might have lost it a little.</p>
<p>Aaron wasn’t a nice or kind person by any means, and he’d definitely been known to be cruel, but even he was a little taken aback by his own exhausted ruthlessness.</p>
<p>
  <em>“If you even have the capacity for brain function in those thick skulls of yours, maybe you could use the combination of your three brain cells and, I dunno, go talk to Kevin your fucking selves instead of interrupting someone who strives for more than to dance on dirty bar tables for sticky dollar bills.”</em>
</p>
<p>He was never, ever, going to get laid again.</p>
<p>Oh, they eviscerated him. He blocked out most of it because he was just so, so tired. That little outburst had been all he had left.</p>
<p>At the rate he was going, he was going to be black-listed by every single female in the entire school. </p>
<p>Fuck them, he didn’t care anyway.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>** </p>
<p>“What are you doing?” </p>
<p>Katelyn startled and looked over from where she was currently seated on the grass, shielding her face from the sun to look up at their Captain, Ciara, feeling like she’d just been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.</p>
<p>She wasn’t exactly participating, per say, and she didn’t necessarily agree, but she was, technically, an accessory.</p>
<p>“Making a point,” Desiree said. </p>
<p>“Revenge,” Jessica said at the same time.</p>
<p><em>“Aaron Minyard has a micro-“ </em>Ciara read, then glared. “What the hell do you guys think you’re doing?”</p>
<p>“Like we said,” Desiree lifted her chin, the gold piercing glinting in her pointed nose. “Revenge.”</p>
<p>“Revenge,” Ciara repeated, sounding thoroughly unimpressed. She rubbed her hand over her ebony features. “Are you actually-? What exactly is the plan here?”</p>
<p>“Isn’t it obvious? Make a big-ass sign so that that asshole realizes what happens when he messes with the Vixens,” Jessica said.</p>
<p>“Mhm,” Ciara nodded, but there was something decidedly dangerous about the expression. “Ok. And where exactly are you going to put it?”</p>
<p>“Well,” Kelsey said. “There’s a game on Friday.”</p>
<p>“Okay, and when you get stood down from the Vixens for misconduct, what then?” Ciara asked.</p>
<p>“Okay, so obviously we can’t do it when we’re cheering,” Desiree rolled her eyes. “But a few girls from English Lit will be in the crowd and-“</p>
<p>“Absolutely not,” Ciara said and it was very clear that she wasn’t kidding.</p>
<p>“What? You can’t-“</p>
<p>“I can, and I did,” Ciara said. “If I see any sign like that at the next Exy game about any of the players, I will make sure you’re benched for the rest of the semester, understood?”</p>
<p>“What the hell?” Desiree seethed.</p>
<p>“You didn’t hear what he said-“ Jessica argued.</p>
<p>“I don’t care,” Ciara said, eyeing them all. “You are <em>adults.</em> Act like it. I’d expect this from my thirteen year old sister, not grown-ass women.”</p>
<p>Katelyn couldn’t help but agree. It was one thing to try to get back at the guy for being excessively rude, and completely another to put up fliers trying to humiliate him. The punishment didn’t fit the crime. </p>
<p>“That’s not fair,” Jessica argued.</p>
<p>“<em>Life</em> isn’t fair. This is just the beginning. Take this as a learning curve,” Ciara said.</p>
<p>“So we should just do nothing then?” Desiree sneered. “Let him get away with it?”</p>
<p>Ciara smiled something sharp, “I didn’t say that. But this is not the way to go.”</p>
<p>Then she walked away like she hadn’t just handed over a loaded weapon.</p>
<p>Kelsey frowned, looking at her half finished sign, “Well, that sucks.”</p>
<p>“Oh, no,” Desiree said. “We’re still going to make the signs.”</p>
<p>“What?” Jessica piped up. “But Ciara said-“</p>
<p>“I don’t care what Ciara said. We’re making them,” Desiree cut her off. </p>
<p>“As much fun as this is, it’s not worth being benched from the squad,” Kelsey frowned. </p>
<p>Desiree sighed, “She said we couldn’t have them at the games.”</p>
<p>Katelyn was getting that sinking feeling. </p>
<p>“… yes,” Kelsey said, eyeing the twist of Desiree’s mouth. </p>
<p>“So? She never said anything about Fox tower.”</p>
<p>Realization dawned on the other girls, wicked glints in their eyes, “Oh”</p>
<p>“Yes, “ Desiree grinned. “Exactly”</p>
<p>This was going to end badly, Katelyn could already tell. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>**</p>
<p>The Tower was buzzing. It was in the air, incessant wasps of voices vying for attention, but murmured low and secretive. </p>
<p>They walked in a line, Andrew in front, Kevin right at his heels, and Nicky and Aaron behind. </p>
<p>People looked and whispered as they passed, some out in the hall in varied degrees of groupings, and some strolling past on their way to or from wherever they were going. </p>
<p>It wasn’t unusual. But, it was in a weird way that had Aaron’s shoulders tensing and the back of his neck itching with eyes. </p>
<p>Aaron was used to people looking at them. Because of Andrew. Because of Nicky’s flamboyant shirts. Because of Kevin. But. </p>
<p>But this was different, in that way that said something had happened. Something had changed, maybe. It was different and it was bad. </p>
<p>Then they saw why. </p>
<p>Andrew started laughing, that wicked, sharp, awful laugh that was entirely unnatural to the boy Aaron had known. Or hadn’t known. To the person who was in Aaron’s life for that one single year at age sixteen before he was sentenced to court-mandated medication. </p>
<p>Kevin paused beside Andrew, but said nothing. Then Nicky stopped and immediately turned to Aaron with an expression of horror and gasped, <em>“What did you do?“</em></p>
<p>What had he done? Lots, probably. </p>
<p>Then they shifted and Aaron saw what the commotion was about. </p>
<p>“What. <em>The fuck?“</em></p>
<p>On giant pink paper, with writing all glittered and precise, read: <em>Aaron Minyard has a micro-dick. </em></p>
<p>There were smudges of colours around the edges, looking like puckered lips, and sad little frowny faces printed around the edges in colourful ink. </p>
<p>And they were <em>everywhere. </em></p>
<p>All along the hall, in varying shades of colour and glitter, varying words designed to rip him to shreds. </p>
<p>Andrew couldn’t stop laughing, his breath wheezing out as he tried to catch it. </p>
<p>Vixens. </p>
<p>Fucking<em> Vixens. </em></p>
<p>“You do realize that this is an insult to you too, don’t you Monster?” a voice called from a doorway. Allison, Aaron recognized vaguely. He was still busy staring at the posters. </p>
<p>He wanted to rip them all to shreds, but he knew there was no point. It wouldn’t help anything, it’d only make it worse. He knew how this worked.</p>
<p>Whispers and barely concealed laughter fluttered around him and Aaron felt very small. Like he wanted to shrink down and hide in the cracks. It wasn’t a new feeling. </p>
<p>He glared something vicious at those gathered, feeling that bubbling and writhing anger zing through his veins and make his heart race. He wanted to wipe the amusement off all of their faces. </p>
<p>Instead, he turned to their dorm and opened it with his key and threw himself onto a beanbag and resolved himself to kill zombies until his brain felt numb and he couldn’t think anymore. </p>
<p>He knew of an easier, better way to still his mind, but that wasn’t an option anymore. Would never be again, as far as he was concerned. </p>
<p>Nicky sat beside him and said nothing -probably the first time ever- and instead stayed up with him until Aaron’s fingers ached and he finally went to bed in the early hours of the morning. </p>
<p>Maybe if he slept, he could pretend this was just a dream. It never worked, but he tried to convince himself of it anyway, at least for a few hours. </p>
<p>This was yet another thing he’d have to endure</p>
<p> </p>
<p>**</p>
<p>Katelyn was sitting at her desk, her dorm room empty. Half of the team had gone out for the night and the other half were cramming for midterms. </p>
<p>It was a bliss she missed, being away from home. She liked to socialize, go out with friends and have a few drinks, but she also enjoyed the peace that came with being alone.</p>
<p>She liked the quiet. She hadn’t realized how much until it was no longer there. </p>
<p>She lit up the organic lavender candle her mama had sent her and cracked the window in case of any smoke, then sat at her desk to prepare her biology notes, looking forward to a peaceful night. </p>
<p>It didn’t last long. </p>
<p>The first through the door was Ciara, looking fierce and furious behind her makeup. The door swung back on its hinges and smacked against the wall, a loud clatter that had it swinging back violently and causing Katelyn to jump about a foot from her chair. </p>
<p>Second was Jenny, her dark hair braided away from her face. Her face which, upon closer inspection, was stained and marked with messy mascara and eyeliner, running harsh lines down her cheeks. </p>
<p>Michelle followed, blonde hair a usual mess of unruly dreads, eyes bright and body singing with anxious energy. </p>
<p>“What happened?” Katelyn asked immediately.</p>
<p>“Kate, you’re not gonna believe -fuck, it smells good in here.” Michelle looked around and spotted the candle. “A candle? You absolute rebel, Kate.”</p>
<p>Katelyn ignored the heavily slurred comment and made it to Jenny’s side. Taking a careful hold of her arm she immediately looked to Ciara, Kate’s roommate, and clearly the more sober of the lot of them, “What happened?“</p>
<p>Ciara’s mouth was a firm line of barely concealed anger, “That fucking psycho almost tried to break her arm.”</p>
<p>“What?” Katelyn gaped. She turned to Jenny. “Are you okay? Should we take you to Reddin?”</p>
<p>Jenny sniffed and put on a smile, “Yeah, no, I’m okay. More shocked than anything.”</p>
<p>“As you should be. That asshole was way out of line. You need to report him,” Ciara stood in front of Jenny, arms crossed. Her gaze flickered up quickly and she snapped. “Michelle, put that down or you’ll set the whole damn place on fire.”</p>
<p>Michelle placed the candle back down, and deliberately stepped away from it, hands behind her back in contrition.</p>
<p>“No. There’s no point. Everyone already knows that he’s a psycho. Reporting it won’t solve anything. He’s just another man who thinks it’s okay to hurt women. I won’t let him intimidate me,” Jenny said, hand coming up to rub at her shoulder.</p>
<p>“Okay, someone needs to explain to me what is going on,“ Katelyn demanded. “Who hurt you, Jenny?”</p>
<p>Jenny looked down at the hands in her lap and sighed, “Minyard did. He threw me against the wall and twisted my arm up behind my back. Gordon and Jones had to push him off.” </p>
<p>“Wait- he what?” Katelyn asked.</p>
<p>College and parties went together like bread and butter, there was always one happening somewhere on a Friday night, the need for stress relief and socializing and letting go of one’s inhibitions. </p>
<p>Asides from the few of them, most of the Vixens avoided the fraternity parties and the absolute debauchery they contained. There was almost always something going on at Fox Tower, the apartment housing for Palmetto’s College athletes. Working in such close proximity to them, the Vixens always managed to secure open invites.</p>
<p>Which was why the Vixens had found themselves in the same space as The Monsters that Friday evening.</p>
<p>Extracting information from inebriated cheerleaders was a lesson in patience. It didn’t help that Ciara hadn’t been there, only getting second hand information after the incident.</p>
<p>There’d been a confrontation in the hall, the two groups crossing paths. Things were said, insults thrown; a standoff right there.</p>
<p>Aaron, the slightly less dangerous twin, breaking through the group and knocking Michelle into the wall with a shoulder knock. Jenny, several colourful jello-shots down, reacting immediately in her defence and snatching at the asshole’s arm. </p>
<p>Then things got really messy. All confusing and blurry. Then Jenny found herself pinned up against the wall with pain pulsing through her shoulder, forearm at a dangerous angle at her back, harsh fingers digging into her skin.</p>
<p>It took two of the guys to get Andrew Minyard to drop her, and then they’d left with barely a backwards glance.</p>
<p>The other girls involved had opted to stay behind, but Michelle and Ciara had taken Jenny home.</p>
<p>“You have to report him, Jenny,” Katelyn said when she’d finished looking over Jenny’s shoulder, even when she’d insisted she was fine.</p>
<p>“Why? It won’t make a difference,” she said.</p>
<p>“But what if it happens to somebody else?” Katelyn pressed gently.</p>
<p>Jenny sucked in a deep breath and let it out in a rush, “Kkay. Yeah, I’ll do it.”</p>
<p>“Good,” Ciara said, then watched as Michelle helped Jenny back to their rooms.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>**</p>
<p>When the Palmetto Foxes had first recruited the Minyard twins and their cousin, Nicky Hemmick, it had been quite the scandal. </p>
<p>Coach David Wymack was known for his controversial recruitment methods, but this time a lot of people had questioned his sanity. And still did.</p>
<p>Allison Reynolds, the Foxes dealer, had created quite the stir on her hunt for rumours and information, some of the Vixens having even been to high school with them. No one had anything good to say.</p>
<p>It’s still unclear as to where the nick-name ‘The Monsters’ originated. Gossip said that it originated from the team itself, but no one knew for sure.</p>
<p>What they did know was that the name rang true. Undoubtedly. </p>
<p>It was that small group of them, three which later turned to four. It made no sense, at first, why a infamous man and Exy-prodigy like Kevin Day would hang around with a group so widely known as troublemakers and outcasts. </p>
<p>But, if you talked to anyone on the Exy team, who themselves were hardly pinnacles of pleasantness, they said Kevin could be as awful as the rest of them.</p>
<p>Then there was Nicky Hemmick. Y’know, without his cousins he was almost okay. Kelsey was in his media class and claimed that he was outspoken but generally friendly and nice, quick for a joke or a juicy piece of gossip. </p>
<p>Problem was that Nicky was also a bit two-faced. The moment he got within range of his family he was re-transformed into one of them and could be equally as awful. As the man who was apparently the recently relieved guardian of the twins, it was very clear that any authority he’d ever held had always been in name-only.</p>
<p>Which led to the twins. The main monsters. The most awful of the awful. And they really were. Identical and almost impossible to tell apart; one with the violent criminal record, the creepily medicated smile and gothic aspirations; the other with the constant scowl, sour and intolerable personality, who wore almost anything other than black. </p>
<p>The gossip surrounding them was as outrageous as it was believable and the Palmetto State Vixen’s Cheerleading squad had made it their mission to start collecting it.</p>
<p>Jenny reported the assault, but the surrounding circumstances had made it a grey area and, apparently, they were looking into it. The outcome was not what they’d wanted, but what they’d expected, and it was absolute bullshit.</p>
<p>So Katelyn decided to take matters into her own hands.</p>
<p>Katelyn was buzzing with righteous anger, from the tips of her painted toes to the tension in her shoulders. </p>
<p>If it wasn’t grim determination from her captain or her coach, then it was juvenile revenge plots and spiteful rumors that were escalating out of control.</p>
<p>In hindsight, it had been a really bad idea. But at the time, Katelyn had been too angry to think of the consequences, too geared up to hold her tongue.</p>
<p>So she made her way to Fox Tower, let in by one of the guys from the Soccer team, and found herself knocking on the door of dorm 319.</p>
<p>For a long while, nobody answered. She was about to knock again when it finally swung open, Nicky Hemmick standing in the doorway, surprise and confusion clear on his face.</p>
<p>“I think you have the wrong room,” he said.</p>
<p>“I don’t,” she said, squaring her shoulders. “I want to speak to Andrew. Is he here?”</p>
<p>“Uh,” Nicky’s gaze flickered back into the room over his shoulder before looking back to her with a grimace. “You really don’t want to do that.”</p>
<p>“I can decide that for myself,” she said.</p>
<p>“Look,” Nicky sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. “It’s Katelyn, right? Whatever it is you have to say, I’m telling you that it won’t work. There’s no point.”</p>
<p>“He’s crossed a line.”</p>
<p>“Your lines are not his lines and it doesn’t matter what you say, he won’t hear any of it. You can’t make him care. Don’t waste your breath on trying,” then he gave her a pitying smile. “Just stay away from him.”</p>
<p>Katelyn’s patience was wearing thin, she didn’t want excuses, “Is he here or not?”</p>
<p>She spotted movement then, behind Nicky. A flash of blond and navy blue, baggy sweats dragged over feet.</p>
<p>“Excuse me, Aaron!” she called, watching the man pause and turn to her. “Where’s your brother?”</p>
<p>Aaron stared for a moment like he’d never seen her before, thin frames perched on the edge of his nose and coffee mug held in his fist. </p>
<p>Which was ridiculous, because they had the same Biology and Chemistry classes together. She’d even spoken to him once, asking for a copy of his notes -which had proved fruitless, as he kept the most skeletal notes Katelyn had ever seen.</p>
<p>Then he scowled, features twisting, “He won’t talk to you. Don’t waste your breath, <em>Kathy.”</em></p>
<p>It could have been a mistake, but Katelyn was sure it was just out of spite.</p>
<p>“Are you even sorry?” she snapped, her gaze narrowed on him. </p>
<p>He turned on her then, eyes flashing dark and angry, “And what the hell do I have to be sorry for, hm? Being cornered outside of my own dorm? Being insulted and ridiculed with zero factual evidence? You Vixens think you’re so special, that you can do whatever you want, but life has consequences. Think you can get that through that pretty little head of yours?”</p>
<p>Katelyn glared, still angry, heart rate fast from adrenaline.</p>
<p>Aaron scoffed. He shook his head, and then he stalked off. A door slammed a second later.</p>
<p>Nicky blinked, looking wide-eyed at his cousin’s retreat, then he turned back to Katelyn with a furrow in his brow, lips in a thin line, “I think you should leave.”</p>
<p>She left. </p>
<p>She left and she was still angry, still furious, but now she felt a little bit torn. Because as much as she hated it, Aaron Minyard was a little bit right. And despite being an asshole, she felt a little bit sorry for him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>**</p>
<p>It’s no small secret that sports fans can get a little crazy. For college sport fans though? This was a whole other level.</p>
<p>Katelyn woke in the morning hearing news of the Exy stadium having been vandalized, and arrived at afternoon practice to discover that somehow that had become the Vixens problem.</p>
<p>“Tell me you’re joking,” Desiree was the first to complain.</p>
<p>“Unfortunately not,” Coach Reed replied, thinned lips conveying just how enthused she was with the idea. “We will be sharing our space with the Foxes Exy team until further notice.”</p>
<p>“How is this even meant to work, exactly? Exy is an indoor sport,” Kyle lifted his arms, indicating the open air around them. “There ain’t no walls here.”</p>
<p>“Wouldn’t it make more sense if they shared with the netball team? Or basketball?” Kelsey piped up, arms crossed over her chest. “It’s only three months until we have regionals.”</p>
<p>“This totally sucks.”</p>
<p>“Absolute bullshit.”</p>
<p>“Enough,” Coach Reed spoke up, cutting off their protests. “I know that this isn’t ideal but we are more than capable of working around it. One of our sports teams has had their stadium and locker rooms vandalized. The police have been informed, security is looking into it, and clean up crews are getting organized as we speak. Believe you me, the Exy team is just as thrilled about this as we are. The athletic committee has concluded that this will cause the least disruption for everyone. End of discussion.”</p>
<p>“But what-?”</p>
<p>“Right, Vixens,” Ciara clapped her hands loudly. “Time to warm up and then we’re straight into practice.”</p>
<p>Palmetto’s Exy team arrived not long afterwards and it was evidently clear from the players’ faces that they also considered this to be a waste of time. The Vixens had resolved themselves to pretend the others didn’t exist.</p>
<p>At 5’4” Katelyn was the Vixen’s second smallest flyer. Kei was the smallest by far at only 4’11”, and the only male flyer they had this year.</p>
<p>A small kerfuffle, raised voices and scathing words had Katelyn and Michelle looking over, Katelyn losing her balance a little at the loss of concentration and cursing herself internally for it.</p>
<p>A split-second of inattention could have disastrous consequences, and not just for her. </p>
<p>Ciara sent her a sharp look when she wobbled, sending up an extra hand to steady her. Katelyn expected a reprimand later.</p>
<p>It looked like the start of a brawl which, really, was nothing new. The Foxes were notorious for infighting both on the court and off of it. Orange covered bodies were pushing and shoving, raised voices and raised fists conveying threats, but it was still unclear as to who was the center of it.</p>
<p>“Kate!” Ciara’s voice snapped, immediately capturing her attention. “Three, two, one, drop” </p>
<p>Katelyn followed the count and jumped, trusting Michelle and Kyle to catch her. Always.</p>
<p>Ciara met her with a disapproving look in her eye, “When you are here, you are <em>here.</em> Got it?”</p>
<p>“Yes captain.” </p>
<p>They moved on. </p>
<p>There’s just something about being tossed in the air, something so reckless and freeing in an otherwise controlled and planned life, that had Katelyn hooked every single time.</p>
<p>It had started in junior high, when her PE teacher had pushed her to try out for the team. The first time she’d dropped and let her teammates catch her, her adrenaline sky high and heart racing out of her chest, she’d never looked back.</p>
<p>This was her little rebellion to life’s expectations that she so desperately needed.</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>And then, suddenly, she was falling.</p>
<p>She had been focused on her body, just as she’d been taught. Aware of every muscle flex of her own and the arms and hands that were holding her. Her core was activated and burning, calves and thighs tense as she balanced on her teammates shoulders and read every shift and adjustment in their grips and postures. </p>
<p>Her mind had been exactly where it was so supposed to be so of course she’d never known it was coming.</p>
<p>Kyle’s support stuttered underneath her, just a bit, like a stumble, but that was more than enough for Katelyn to lose her equilibrium and drop.</p>
<p>It was not the kind of adrenalin rush she was looking for. She didn’t even have a chance to brace herself. </p>
<p>Her back hit the mat with a harsh slap on her bare skin, her head only just protected by the arm that cradled it at the last second before they both made contact. </p>
<p>They were taught how to fall safely, how to twist and catch one another should a person lose their balance. How to read each other’s bodies and prepare for a fall. But this hadn’t been them. This had been caused by an outside influence. </p>
<p>“Kate. Kate! Oh my god, are you okay?” someone was asking above her, familiar dark eyes filled with concern, messy dreads falling out of their bun around their face. </p>
<p>Katelyn blinked and looked up at Michelle. She tried to speak but her voice was nothing but a rasp of air that seemed stilled in her lungs. </p>
<p>She knew the feeling of being winded, she’d experienced it many times before. It never got better. </p>
<p>People were yelling, angry voices raging over each other as Vixens swarmed around her to watch, to see if she was okay. </p>
<p>It was hard to make sense of any of it. </p>
<p>Coach Reed was there immediately, breaking through the bodies and ignoring the fight brewing around them. </p>
<p>“Can you hear me Katelyn?” she asked.</p>
<p>Katelyn tried to answer but she couldn’t, so she settled for giving a slight nod. </p>
<p>“Is there any pain anywhere?” </p>
<p>Katelyn tried to shake her head but at that point it was a bit too much. </p>
<p>“Katelyn, is it?” another voice asked, a kind looking face that crinkled at the eyes. “My name is Abigale Winfield, I’m the nurse for the Foxes. Is it okay if I take a look at you?”</p>
<p>Injuries in cheerleading were nothing new, and Nurse Winfield took her through the steps of checking her over for damage, particularly her head, neck and back. Thankfully, nothing was broken. She was just a little bruised and a little shocked. There was a huge red mark on her thigh that had yet to start aching, courtesy of Kyle trying to slow down her fall. </p>
<p>She didn’t blame him, of course. No, the blame for this landed on someone else entirely. </p>
<p>The Foxes and the Vixens were at each other’s throats, vicious curses and insults slung with deadly accuracy. </p>
<p>And there was Aaron Minyard, the cause of it all, standing amongst it with his sour scowl, having just got his jersey back from Kyle’s fist, staring at the ground as the nasty exchange flew on around him. </p>
<p>Nicky nudged his arm and whispered something under his breath. </p>
<p>Aaron turned that awful expression onto his cousin and shot something back that appeared harsh and scathing judging by the reaction on Nicky’s usually happy face. An Exy ball sat at their feet, half hidden by the grass. </p>
<p>Michelle helped Katelyn to her feet along with the nurse, tugging her up and supporting her weight despite Katelyn’s protests that it was unnecessary. She was still a little shaky on her legs. </p>
<p>Around them, the coaches stepped in where the captains couldn’t, separating the teams and putting distance between them. But the anger was still brewing. </p>
<p>In between the concern and care her Vixens plied her with for her safety, were curses for the team of Foxes and their blatant disregard for others. The Monsters in particular -those terrible twins- who had both gone out of their way to hurt one of their own. </p>
<p>Katelyn was a little shaky, and it wasn’t from the fall. Not just that. She’d fallen countless times, but never had she had someone go out of their way to try to harm her like that. It was calculated and cruel. It was dangerous. She could have broken something. </p>
<p>She couldn’t figure out just what it was she had done that could have possibly warranted such a ruthless response. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>**</p>
<p>“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t throw your ass off this team,” Coach Wymack demanded.</p>
<p>Aaron didn’t say anything, because he didn’t really have one.</p>
<p>Guilt was a common feeling, one that coated his layers, barbed like armor. He was used to feeling guilt and the self-loathing that came along with it. This was nothing new.</p>
<p>“Tell him,” Nicky nudged him again, confined into the studio at their gym where they were forced to shower for the next while.</p>
<p>“Shut up,” Aaron snapped back.</p>
<p>“I need an explanation, Minyard, and I need it now. Coach Reed will be here in less than ten minutes. If you have any desire to keep your scholarship then you better start talking,” Wymack said.</p>
<p>If he didn’t have a scholarship then he had nothing. He couldn’t afford to lose it.</p>
<p>“It was an accident,” he gritted out, knowing how pitiful it sounded.</p>
<p>It <em>was</em> an accident though. Kind of. He hadn’t purposely tried to make her fall. He’d been trying to avoid it.</p>
<p>“Explain,” Wymack demanded.</p>
<p>“They were just fucking around. Being stupid. Being careless. Dwayne shot the ball, I don’t know who or what he was aiming for, probably the back of Reggie’s head, trying to wind him up or some shit. It missed. So I went for it,” Aaron dragged his gaze up to look Wymack in the eye. He was glaring, he knew, but he couldn’t help it. He was preparing himself.</p>
<p>Wymack eyed him, and it was intense, dark.</p>
<p>“You could have really hurt her,” He said, finally.</p>
<p>“It was going to hit her,” Aaron said forcefully.</p>
<p>He waited as Wymack stared him down. He waited for it. But it didn’t come. </p>
<p>“Okay, Aaron,” he said finally. “You realize this is a mess, right? They’re going to think this was retaliation.”</p>
<p>“What?” He was too caught up in the fact that Wymack seemed to believe him, that the thought that Wymack would know about the fliers took too long to connect in his brain. </p>
<p>Of course he’d know, though. He’d probably seen them. It seemed like everybody else had. </p>
<p>“It doesn’t look good, but I believe you.” </p>
<p>That. That prickled something that Aaron immediately tamped down. He didn’t need Wymack’s faith. </p>
<p>It was surprising when Dwayne backed him up. Shocking even, because there was absolutely no real comradery between them. It wasn’t until afterwards that he realized that he’d expected Dwayne to deny it. </p>
<p>It meant that Aaron was in the clear, despite the way the cheerleaders coach, River Reed, had glared at him like she was one step away from murder. </p>
<p>It didn’t do anything for the tension between the Foxes and Vixens, however, the latter determined that this had been a calculated plan. </p>
<p>He wouldn’t <em>-he would never- </em>he was studying to be a trauma specialist for fuckssakes. Hurting people was the last thing he would do. Not like that. </p>
<p>That didn’t matter to them, though. And the animosity between the two teams grew. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>**</p>
<p>“We need to do something,” they had decided, tossing scorn back and forth in the dressing room before changing. </p>
<p>“We could set fire to their goth-mobile.”</p>
<p>“That’s called arson. I don’t have any desire to go to jail.” </p>
<p>“We could slash their tires.”</p>
<p>“That is also a crime.”</p>
<p>“Puncture them, then. Cars get punctures all the time.”</p>
<p>“It’s got a shiny paint job, be a shame if it got scratched.”</p>
<p>“Or towed. There’s no way they came by that car legally. Not with their background.”</p>
<p>“And we could easily blame it on the Ravens fans. The timing would be too coincidental.”</p>
<p>“Enough!” Katelyn called, having had quite enough of it, startling the whole room. </p>
<p>All eyes came back to her, different shades and different degrees of narrowness. </p>
<p>She lifted her chin, staring at all of them. Michelle was closest and placed a hand on her shoulder. </p>
<p>“We have better things to do, don’t we? More important things to worry about?” she stressed. “I don’t want some grudge to take over my life and you shouldn’t either. It’s toxic, and it’s only going to end badly. They said it was an accident and I want to leave it there. I won’t waste my time with petty revenge and you shouldn’t either. We’re better than that.”</p>
<p>A few of them, maybe, turned their eyes away. But some didn’t. She’d said her piece, though. Made her stance clear. She couldn’t do anything about the rest. </p>
<p>Their captain waited until Katelyn left the change room, placing a heavy hand on her shoulder with a fierce look in her eye. “Good job,” she said. Then, “Hurry it up,” to the rest of them. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>**</p>
<p>There were already four things about Katelyn Mun that had had the unfortunate consequence of capturing Aaron’s attention.</p>
<p>1)	Not once had she mentioned Kevin Day’s name.<br/>
2)	She’d somehow, and this could still be a fluke, she’d somehow managed to tell him apart from Andrew.<br/>
3)	She wasn’t just smart, she was exceptional.<br/>
4)	She was so fucking beautiful it hurt. </p>
<p>Of course he’d noticed her. Of course he knew her name. Maybe before all the drama <em>-hell-</em> that had crashed into his life, he might have wanted to get to know her better. Or just be <em>seen</em> by her. But. Well. Life was never kind. And she was miles out of his league anyway. </p>
<p>She smiled like she had things to be happy about. Not her cheerleader smile, but a real one. Often. She laughed with her friends and she smiled at others, and Aaron thought that maybe Katelyn Mun knew what happiness was. Maybe she knew the secret. </p>
<p>She’d asked to borrow his notes once, and he’d scrambled over himself to give them to her despite the fact that he’d known they were barely legible, key paragraphs and phrases to trigger the information stored in his head. </p>
<p>She’d smiled at him and he’d forgotten about all of that. </p>
<p>But none of that mattered now. It had never mattered, really. </p>
<p>Just a daydream, half formed and then pushed to the back of his mind. In another lifetime, maybe, it could be something. </p>
<p>But Aaron Michael Minyard lived in this lifetime and it was the only one he had. The one where he’d scorned her at his door, and knocked her down dangerously. </p>
<p>Aaron ruined everything, his mother had taught him that. He wouldn’t want to ruin someone like Katelyn. Besides, she was part of the nasty group of bitches who’d sought to humiliate him. Even if she wasn’t miles out of his league, she was probably just as awful as the rest of them, anyway. </p>
<p>He’d just keep his head down and stay away from her. That was all he could do. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>**</p>
<p>Katelyn was waiting as the rest of the lecture hall dispersed, not in any kind of rush because she had three hours to kill before her next lecture and an hour before her yoga class. </p>
<p>It wasn’t mandatory, but recommended, for flexibility and strength, and Katelyn always enjoyed the grounding feeling that came with it. The way to get out of her head and in sync with her body. </p>
<p>And it reminded her of home, doing <em>downward dog</em> and <em>salutations to the sun</em> with her mama in the mornings before breakfast. It made her feel both homesick and content, a messy mix that never really went away. </p>
<p>She felt the eyes before she spotted who they belonged to. </p>
<p>It wasn’t strange. Being a cheerleader meant being looked at, being watched. It came with a multiple of assumptions and clichés, and Katelyn had already exhausted herself trying to defy all of them. Nowadays she just let it slide, until things got too out of control. Then she bared her teeth. </p>
<p>Aaron Minyard stood beside her, but now he was no longer looking at her. The hall had emptied, asides from them and professor Lauren. Hugh Lauren, as she had always known him. </p>
<p>Professor Lauren gave her a smile that was fond, familiar, her oemma and him being good friends. Good enough that he was invited around for dinners since before Katelyn was born, and was still known to call her oemma up with pressing questions. </p>
<p>“Katelyn Mun,” he smiled. </p>
<p>“Professor Lauren,” she smiled back. </p>
<p>“Always professional,” he said. </p>
<p>“Of course,” she replied. </p>
<p>In her peripheral, though, Aaron Minyard was scowling. </p>
<p>Professor Lauren obviously noticed it too. </p>
<p>“Aaron Minyard, how can I help?” He asked. His smile was no longer as warm as it had been. </p>
<p>“You miss-quoted section C on your board. Just thought you should know,” he said, and Katelyn tried not to feel the nerves creeping in at his presence. </p>
<p>She wasn’t afraid of him, per say. She wasn’t. She believed it was an accident. Or, maybe, she wanted to believe it was an accident. But that didn’t change the fact that he’d knocked her down and she had fallen and felt her heart leap out of her chest.</p>
<p>It didn’t stop her knowing that he could have damaged her severely. </p>
<p>Despite her resolve, he made her nervous and she didn’t like it. </p>
<p>“Thank you for your input,” Professor Lauren said placidly. “I’ll be sure to send out an email to correct my mistake.”</p>
<p>Aaron Minyard may have nodded, the movement just out of her line of vision, but she felt his eyes on her and on professor Lauren and it made her acutely uncomfortable. </p>
<p>“Was that all?“ professor Lauren asked, raising and eyebrow. </p>
<p>“Yeah, that’s all,” Aaron Minyard scoffed, before he finally left. </p>
<p>Professor Lauren looked back at her, a curious expression on his face. </p>
<p>She fought to contain hers. </p>
<p>“Is there a problem, Katelyn?” he asked, a hint of concern in his tone. </p>
<p>“No. Nothing,” she said, plastering on a smile. “Of course not.”</p>
<p>He seemed unconvinced but humored her questions on their lesson, regardless. </p>
<p>The last thing she wanted was for Hugh Lauren to think there were problems. The last thing she wanted was for it to go back to her parents. </p>
<p>That- no. That was not something she wanted to deal with. Not right now and not ever. This, too, shall pass. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>** </p>
<p>It was the worst. </p>
<p>The universe was conspiring against her. </p>
<p>She knew when she’d let Desiree run around like a headless chicken in an absolute panic about losing her cellphone (that Katelyn may have spotted in the crack of the seats a few hours previously) that it was going to come back to haunt her.</p>
<p>And there it was: group projects. The very bane of any academic’s existence. </p>
<p>Although Katelyn could definitely appreciate the reason for group projects, that absolutely did not mean that she had to like it. The fact that her own grade could be so heavily impacted by others always caused her to break out in a nervous rash.</p>
<p>The professor emailed the group selections that morning and Katelyn almost spit her green tea out all over her keyboard,</p>
<p>Katelyn Mun</p>
<p>Jesse Paige</p>
<p>Aaron Minyard</p>
<p>“Well played, Karma,” she mumbled under her breath, already feeling the hot itch of hives on her left wrist. “Well played.”</p>
<p>Katelyn thought that she had mentally prepared herself for the worst case scenario when heading to class and having to meet with Jesse and… Aaron. It turns out, she had not.</p>
<p>She breathed deep, steeling herself. Straightening her shoulders. She was Mun Katelyn, daughter of Mun Julia and Mun Mi-sook. She refused to be affected by this. </p>
<p>“Good morning,” she said, standing beside his desk.</p>
<p>His posture tensed, fingers clenching around the pencil in his hand. He worked his jaw. His gaze flickered over to her but didn’t meet her eye.</p>
<p>“Hi,” he finally said, sounding like he’d had to force it out.</p>
<p>Katelyn refused to be put off by his rudeness.</p>
<p>“Has Jesse arrived yet?” she asked, her tone cordial despite how uncordial she was feeling. </p>
<p>“No,” Aaron was stubbornly staring at his book, refusing to look up at her. There was a tense moment, but then he added, “As far as I’m aware she hasn’t been to class for the last three weeks.”</p>
<p>“Great,” Katelyn shut her eyes and counted to ten in Korean.</p>
<p>She hated to admit it, but she’d been hoping for a buffer. Or, y’know, for Aaron to be the one who didn’t show up. With a huff she slipped into the chair beside him and pretended that she wasn’t uncomfortable.</p>
<p>Aaron looked over at her movement out of the corner of his eye but studiously avoided looking at her face. She tugged down the hem of her sleeves.</p>
<p>“Since we haven’t been officially introduced, I’m Katelyn Mun, first year med student, flier for the Vixen’s cheerleading squad. And you are?”</p>
<p>“Aaron Minyard,” He scoffed, mouth curling up mockingly, “first year med, backliner for the Foxes. Happy?” he finally looked at her then, just for a moment. It was a look full of scorn before it flickered back to the desk in front of him.</p>
<p>“Alright, Minyard,” she said, staring hard at his profile. “Give it to me straight, because I have no patience for bullshit. Are you actually capable of pulling your own weight, or am I going to have to carry your ass through this group project as well?”</p>
<p>Aarons face twisted to something ugly, lip curled in a sneer and eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. Aaron was always referred to as the nicer twin. The more pleasant one. But that was only ever by comparison. </p>
<p>Aaron was a Monster too, after all.</p>
<p>“I was just about to ask you the same thing, Mun,” he sneered, tone mocking. “If you were actually capable of holding your own, or if you were too used to being held up by all you’re air-headed pom-pom friends.”</p>
<p>Katelyn snapped her mouth shut against her vicious reply.<em> Calm,</em> she reasoned, <em>professional.</em></p>
<p>But apparently, Aaron wasn’t done. No, no, he decided to really crash through Katelyn’s self control and shatter every intention she had of being civil. To utterly obliterate them.</p>
<p>“It’s funny, y’know. You’ve always been at the top of this class. But hey, I guess it makes sense,” he looked at her and it was pure and utter loathing, mouth twisted sharp and cruel. “You and professor Lauren seem to know each other well. Really well, in fact.”</p>
<p>There was no way that Katelyn could miss the implication behind his words. No way that she could fight the flush of absolute anger that vibrated through her body like a scorching wave. </p>
<p>How dare- <em>How dare he?</em> </p>
<p>He gave her a look, nasty, like he’d won. But he had <em>no idea.</em> </p>
<p>That sniveling little <em>bastard-</em> oh, he was going to pay. </p>
<p>Professor Lauren came in and Katelyn turned to the front and sat still as a statue, neither moving to her own seat nor removing her books. </p>
<p>She was frozen in her fury, seething in her seat. She wouldn’t make a scene, Mun Katelyn didn’t make <em>scenes,</em> but there was no way that she was going to let him get away with that.</p>
<p>The hour was one of the longest she’d had to endure, but in that time her fury turned cold, icy, and bitter. Far more under control.</p>
<p>Then the hall started to empty and Katelyn stood from her chair before Aaron could, and stepped in front of him, effectively blocking his way. </p>
<p>“Y’know,” she began, voice a deadly and cutting calm. “I would expect a <em>boy</em> who stands there and does nothing as a woman is assaulted to say something like that. Won’t help a woman in trouble, assumes any woman smarter than he is must be sleeping her way to the top. I’d almost feel sorry for you, but I don’t sympathize with misogynistic pigs.”</p>
<p>“Maybe you should deal with your own insecurities,” and she made a pointed look to his beltline, validated in her savagery. “Instead of taking them out on others.”</p>
<p>Then she smiled her most brilliant and mocking cheerleader smile and sauntered away with her head held high, feeling the burn of his glare at her back.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>**</p>
<p>Aaron had resolved himself, and it grated on him. </p>
<p>Not because he had to admit he was wrong, no. He could do that. But because he knew he’d have to fall all over himself to try to make amends and stooping that low, for Aaron, was a lesson in humility he’d rather live without. </p>
<p>That’s if she would even let him. </p>
<p>His entire weekend had been spent in a state of guilt and self-loathing, his mind torturing him over and over with his bitter and harmful words, and the look on Katelyn’s face once they’d landed.</p>
<p>The absolute disgust her face had twisted to when she’d rightfully put him in his place.</p>
<p>He’d lashed out, he knew that. That’s what he did. Maybe he’d felt vindicated at the time, but that self-righteous feeling had quickly worn off as the repercussions of his vicious words and Katelyn Mun’s scathing reaction rocked through him in waves of regret and self-contempt.</p>
<p>He, Aaron Minyard, was a spiteful creature, but Katelyn hadn’t deserved that. </p>
<p>So he had to fix it. Or at least <em>try.</em></p>
<p>That was the worst part; mustering up the balls to do it. </p>
<p>It took two days. </p>
<p>Naturally, Katelyn Mun hadn’t said a word to him, hadn’t even looked at him, and he knew she was justified in her cold shoulder and he knew he didn’t deserve any forgiveness, but they were being forced to work together and he at least owed her some contrition. </p>
<p>More than that, probably, but he was at least going to start with trying to be civil and an overdue apology. </p>
<p>He forced his feet to move, heading over to her desk in the lecture hall the moment they’d been dismissed, wanting to catch her before she left. He didn’t want to have to search for her on the massive campus, didn’t want to have to track her down in a group with her cheerleader friends. </p>
<p>“Katelyn,” he said, trying not to sound as sour and bitter as he felt. </p>
<p>She didn’t look at him but she did hesitate, a moment, when she was putting her textbooks into her bag. </p>
<p>Aaron was used to being looked through and ignored. What he wasn’t used to was trying to push past the dismissal and gain attention anyway. </p>
<p>“I owe you an apology,” he said, and she snorted. </p>
<p>Goddamn, but she wasn’t going to make this easy. </p>
<p>“I’m sorry for what I said,” he continued. “It was out of line, and you didn’t deserve it.”</p>
<p>“No,” she said, and finally, <em>finally</em> looked at him. “I didn’t.”</p>
<p>“You didn’t,” he agreed, shuffling his feet and feeling like he would rather be anywhere else but here. But here he was. </p>
<p>He was terrible at this. </p>
<p>He was terrible at a lot of things, to be fair. </p>
<p>Her gaze was cold, her dark eyes pinning him to the spot. </p>
<p>“But that’s not the point,” she said. “Your apology hardly matters. Not that it’s any of your business, but I’ve known Professor Lauren for years, he’s a dear friend of uni oemma.” </p>
<p>Aaron had to scramble to try to figure out what she was saying. </p>
<p>“How uncomfortable do you think it made me feel for you to imply something illicit between me and a man who used to change my diapers? Who used to feed me and bathe me and watch me since before I could walk? Do you have any idea-?” but she cut herself off the second her voice cracked. </p>
<p><em>I’m such a piece of shit,</em> he thought. <em>She didn’t deserve this.</em> </p>
<p>“I’m sorry,” he said again. Uselessly. Because he knew it wasn’t good enough and couldn’t take it back, but there were no other words he could say. </p>
<p>Graciously, sparingly, she sighed. And it was tinged with the sound of resolution and acceptance rather than scorn and it made a small, tiny, little, obscure piece of him light up with something like hope. </p>
<p>“We have to work together,” she said. “At least until this assignment is done. I can move past this, but don’t think for a second that I will put up with any of your shit, Minyard.” </p>
<p>“Yeah,” he breathed, relief so heavy in his tone that he couldn’t squash it. “Yeah, that’s fair. And I’m sorry, too, for knocking you down. I swear it wasn’t my intention. I wasn’t trying to hurt you.”</p>
<p>She blinked. Then nodded. Then that was that. </p>
<p>She packed up her books and she shouldered her bag and she walked out with her head held high, pausing only a moment to greet their professor, before she disappeared out the doorway without a second glance. </p>
<p>Aaron caught Professor Lauren looking at him. He liked him, as much as he could like anybody. As far as professors went, he wasn’t bad, but he felt like an insect under a microscope. Or maybe a roach that needed to be crushed. </p>
<p>Either way, he dropped his gaze because he could feel that guilt swirling like nausea in his gut and he hoped to any god that was out there that Katelyn hadn’t told Professor Lauren what he’d said. </p>
<p>“See you tomorrow, Aaron,” professor Lauren said, pleasant as always but eyes slightly narrowed. </p>
<p>Aaron nodded and got out of there as fast as his legs could reasonably take him. </p>
<p>He didn’t even think about the fact that he probably should have grabbed Katelyn’s email.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Katelyn was having a rough day. A rough week, more likely.</p>
<p>Honestly, it felt like a rough year. </p>
<p>Of course college was meant to be hard. Of course she hadn’t expected to breeze through it like she had through high school. Of course she knew her cheerleading training would take up <em>so</em> much of her time. But as much as she’d tried to prepare herself, she hadn’t quite prepared for this. </p>
<p>She had so much to do, so much studying for midterms and so many assignments that were ticking away with their due notices in her calendar, and yet she’d still collapsed into her sheets after practice and slept for a solid ten hours without touching a thing. </p>
<p>College was <em>hard.</em></p>
<p>Even with all her sleep, she was still almost late for her 8am class, rushing across campus from her dorm without even drinking her tea. </p>
<p>Clearly, it was going to be one of <em>those</em> days. </p>
<p>It didn’t help <em>in the slightest</em> that this was the biology class that she had to share with Aaron Minyard. The class where she had to work with him, talk with him, and divvy up the left over work that their absentee group member had left in her wake. </p>
<p>She already had a headache. </p>
<p>So it was no surprise when she’d made her way over to said Minyard’s desk, her own stress bleeding out, feeling on edge and rushed, and demanded, “Give me your phone.” </p>
<p>“What,” he’d snapped, so rough it was hardly a question. </p>
<p>“Your phone, Minyard. So I can give you my number. We need to compare timetables so we can plan how we’re going to do this,” she wasn’t being nice. She didn’t owe to him, she reasoned. She refused to feel guilty for it. </p>
<p>For a moment, he scowled, like he was planning on refusing her. But at her raised brow and impatient hand on her hip, he sighed, running a hand through the messy blond locks of his hair, “Whatever.”</p>
<p>She entered her details and sent a quick message to herself, ignoring the way he watched her hands, like he was ready to dive across his desk and snatch it off of her. </p>
<p><em>Pfft,</em> as if she actually had any desire to go snooping through his phone.</p>
<p>Aaron stood up beside her and for a moment Katelyn had forgotten that he was actually shorter than her. It was strange, so few people were actually shorter than her, Kei being the only one on the team. For once, it was nice not to be loomed over.</p>
<p>“I’ll text you my schedule later and we can meet in the library,” Katelyn spoke as she watched Aaron pack up his things. </p>
<p>When he looked up at her, she gave him her biggest, fakest, most patronizing cheerleader smile, “Have a lovely day, Minyard.”</p>
<p>And turned on her heel and left. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>** </p>
<p>It was Friday night and Eden’s Twilight was pumping. Just like it always was.</p>
<p>Aaron drank his way through his fourth colourful cocktail, the fruity but potent mix swimming merrily through his veins as he squinted down at the harsh light of his screen.</p>
<p>He’d gone over his response to Katelyn Mun five times now and was declaring himself utterly pathetic, before he finally sent off the available times that aligned with hers: Wednesdays in the mornings and Fridays after lunch.</p>
<p>It shouldn’t have taken three hours for him to reply. He was over-thinking this to the point of insanity.</p>
<p>It was that damn smile she’d given him before all this shit went down. The way she’d looked at him like a <em>person,</em> rather than a hazardous obstacle to avoid. It was something so damn rare in his life that it had lingered and <em>stuck.</em> </p>
<p>Despite everything, that little warmth it had given him refused to burn out and <em>die.</em> </p>
<p>Maybe he just needed to drink more.</p>
<p>“Who are you texting?” Nicky asked as he leaned across the table, voice heavy with slur, that glint in his eye he got when he thought he’d latched onto something interesting. </p>
<p>Which was stupid. Because he hadn’t.</p>
<p>“No one,” Aaron snapped, cradling the phone to his chest possessively and leaning out of Nicky’s eyesight and definitely not incriminating himself further.</p>
<p>Because there was nothing to incriminate. His blood was definitely not pounding faster through his arteries because he’d just sent out his weekly schedule. </p>
<p>To Katelyn Mun.</p>
<p>The woman who Aaron absolutely did not let his eyes linger over or his thoughts stray towards.</p>
<p>Because that would be stupid and Aaron Minyard was not stupid. Most of the time. </p>
<p>Uh, okay. Maybe just not stupid about <em>this.</em></p>
<p>“’No one’, huh?” Nicky crooned. “And does this ‘no one’ know that they’ve got you all flustered and jumpy- Oh my god. Aaron, are you <em>sexting?</em>”</p>
<p>“What?” he snapped, all of those little fluttery feelings immediately drowned out by annoyance. “<em>No.</em> Fuck off.”</p>
<p>Nicky held his hands up in mock surrender in the face of Aaron’s glare, “Calm down. Geez, it’s nothing to be ashamed of, y’know. Everyone does it. In fact, what do you think I’m texting Eric right now?” Nicky’s look turned into a dirty leer and Aaron was immediately uncomfortable.</p>
<p>“Don’t even go there. I don’t want to know,” Aaron snapped, glaring daggers at his cousin.</p>
<p>“Aw c’mon, you can tell me,” Nicky’s smile got all wide and loose. “I just want you to have someone special in your life. Besides, getting laid might help your temperament a little.”</p>
<p>“Drop it, Nicky.”</p>
<p>Nicky sighed. It was barely audible but it was a sound so common that Aaron could almost sense it, “You can talk to me, y’know.”</p>
<p>“I said <em>shut up,</em> Nicky,” he snapped viciously.</p>
<p>Nicky visibly recoiled, pulling back into himself and Aaron felt suitably worse. </p>
<p>Nicky didn’t deserve it, but Nicky was so…  <em>Nicky.</em> And Aaron was Aaron and when he was feeling like a piece of shit he lashed out and dragged everyone down with him. </p>
<p>Aaron let out his own sigh, looking to Nicky’s wounded expression, “Why don’t you go bother Kevin? He looks ready to drown himself in his drink.”</p>
<p>Kevin had slipped in with their visits to Columbia easily, drinking himself into his own oblivion that rivalled Nicky’s and even Aaron’s own. </p>
<p>Kevin didn’t know what happiness was, either. His story was even more tragic than theirs, and didn’t that just say something? That Aaron had the ability to pity someone other than himself, because at least he hadn’t lived Kevin’s life. At least he wasn’t Kevin Day. That was one consolation. </p>
<p>They were all just trying to escape their realities, at least for the few late hours in a debauched club on the outskirts of Columbia City. </p>
<p>That’s what he wanted – needed.  A night out and away to pretend he was free without a care in the world. To get drunk and high and amass himself between the sweaty bodies of anonymous faces, feeling the bass in his bones, thudding into his bloodstream and changing the beat of his heart. </p>
<p>Maybe then he could finally breathe. Maybe then he wouldn’t be plagued. Maybe then he could finally forget. </p>
<p>Nicky turned his drunk enthusiasm onto a thoroughly unimpressed and equally drunk Day, and Aaron pretended that he hadn’t smashed his elbow against the sticky table in his haste to snatch up his flashing phone.</p>
<p>Yep, definitely not pathetic.</p>
<p>Aaron felt the heavy weight of a stare, one that felt like it was digging claws into his skin, but when he turned his head to look Andrew was already pushing himself away from the table, empty glasses balanced expertly on a tray he held over his head.</p>
<p>Aaron could barely contain the way his mouth twisted. Or the way that darkness crawled under his skin.</p>
<p>He turned his head away and resolved himself to drown all his many problems in Cracker Dust tainted spirits. Beating the anger and resentment down and shoveling it under layers upon layers of self-denial and bitterness. Just like he always did.</p>
<p>The next day, they would wake closer to noon than morning. They’d consume hot greasy food to line their bellies and strong coffee to chase away the last of their heavy hangovers. Just like they always did.</p>
<p>A dysfunctional family devout to their self-destructive tradition. </p>
<p>It wasn’t enough, it never was. But at least it was something</p>
<p> </p>
<p>**</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>Katelyn was already settled into the seat at the end of the library, obscured from the main populace view and closely stationed next to the faculty desk.</p>
<p>She had two cups steaming on the desktop, her laptop, and three different textbooks with their already highlighted paragraphs open.</p>
<p>Her phone buzzed on the wooden top, causing her to jolt out of her thought process. </p>
<p>She looked up to see a tell-tale dirty blond mop standing at least a head shorter than everyone else. There was a flash of an olive coloured t-shirt, disappearing behind and in between bodies and tables, scanning the crowd with a familiar scowl glimpsed in the gaps and directed at whatever he held in his hand.</p>
<p>Her phone rang a second later.</p>
<p>She answered it, “I could have forgotten to put that on silent, you know.”</p>
<p>“I thought I was supposed to stop questioning your intelligence?”</p>
<p>“Touché.”</p>
<p>“Where are you?”</p>
<p>“First floor. I can see you from here.”</p>
<p>She watched him look around, dark eyes narrowed as he slowly rotated on the spot.</p>
<p>“Warmer… warmer… hot. Ah, there you are,” his gaze caught on hers and he visibly sighed, hanging up immediately and heading her way.</p>
<p>He approached the table but didn’t sit, looking wholly unimpressed as he looked from her table and the faculty station only a few meters away from them.</p>
<p>“Why are we sitting here?” he asked.</p>
<p>Katelyn gave him a mocking smile, “What’s the issue? It’s a perfectly good spot.”</p>
<p>Aaron scowled, tilting his head like she was stupid, “You cant eat here.”</p>
<p>Katelyn shrugged and took a sip of her tea, “Unless you eat like an absolute slob, Candace won’t bother us.”</p>
<p>Aaron looked from the faculty desk, to Candace typing away on the screen in her knitted jersey and buttoned blouse, and back to Katelyn. </p>
<p>“Yet another faculty member giving you special treatment, huh?” he couldn’t hide the bitterness in his voice.</p>
<p>Katelyn’s smile turned sharp. “Yes. Is this the part where you accuse me of having an affair with her, too?” she asked sweetly.</p>
<p>Aarons eyes narrowed and he huffed out a breath but he wisely decided to keep his mouth shut. </p>
<p>“Fine. Whatever,” and he dropped down into his seat.</p>
<p>“That’s for you, by the way,” Katelyn nodded to the extra cup to her right.</p>
<p>Unsurprisingly, Aaron eyed it warily, “Yeah. Like I’m going to fall for that.”</p>
<p>She shrugged, “Your loss.”</p>
<p>After ten minutes of clearly strained and stilted conversation, the pressure eased slightly as they found a rhythm and, despite their personal issues, they somehow managed to work together in an almost amicable manner.</p>
<p>Then Aaron picked up his drink and spat it back out immediately.</p>
<p>“What the hell is that?” he accused, eyes narrowed and arm pressed over his mouth.</p>
<p>Katelyn could barely contain her smile. Her lips definitely twitched. Her innocent mask was failing terribly, but she tried regardless, “What? Don’t you like it?”</p>
<p>He pulled his arm away from his mouth and looked at her accusingly, “Are you trying to poison me?”</p>
<p>“It’s green tea, not poison,” she scoffed. “Don’t be so dramatic.”</p>
<p>He eyed the cup and purposely put it further from himself, “Same thing.”</p>
<p>She rolled her eyes and sighed. This was going to be a long and painful experience.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>**</p>
<p>“Did you hear the Exy team got raided?”</p>
<p>“What? No way.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, there was drug dogs and everything. Mickey said they all had to stand outside whilst the cops rifled through all their shit.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, apparently they thought that there was like a meth lab in the basement or something.” </p>
<p>“They were targeting the Foxes, obviously.”</p>
<p>“Obviously. Jerome’s all pissed because he had to flush his weed.”</p>
<p>“I heard that Juan and Reggie got kicked off the team.”</p>
<p>“What? No way.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, they both got done for possession. Now they’re out.”</p>
<p>“Serves them right.”</p>
<p>“Yeah. Bastards.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>**</p>
<p>Aaron’s phone was going off in his pocket for the third time and he grit his teeth against the vibration, his already short temper only one push away from snapping. Fuck, but that was the last thing he needed.</p>
<p>He’d already had to hand in two papers, got assigned a third he absolutely didn’t have any time for, and had to attend an extra meeting with the Foxes because of the police raid and subsequent loss of two members of their team. </p>
<p>Which meant they had to scout another two new players for next semester. </p>
<p>Aarons head was pounding with stress and either an overdose on caffeine or a withdrawal from it. He didn’t even know anymore.</p>
<p>His stomach was growling and he couldn’t quite remember if he’d eaten his breakfast or just stared at it, having survived on barely four hours sleep thanks to the raid.</p>
<p>He was on an edge. He didn’t know what it was below the drop but it wasn’t going to be pretty.</p>
<p>He stalked into the library, knocking shoulders with somebody as he passed and not even apologizing for it, ignoring their disgruntled insult. He didn’t have time for that bullshit. He didn’t have time for <em>anything.</em> </p>
<p>He found Katelyn in the corner at her usual table, looking all set up with her notes, clean faced with her creamy skin glowing, chewing on the end of a pencil. Well rested, organized, clean and put together; everything Aaron was not. </p>
<p>She spotted him, her eyes narrowing on him. She opened her mouth as if she was about to say something, but quickly shut it again at his warning look.</p>
<p>He set himself up at the desk and ignored the feeling of her eyes scrutinizing him, watching all his movements. </p>
<p>He felt awful under her, no doubt, judgmental perusal. Her clever mind picking him over and finding everything he was lacking; all his shortcomings, all his failings. Everything he could never and would never be.</p>
<p>He ignored all that and pretended it didn’t make his skin itch with a self-conscious shame.</p>
<p>“Are you aware that your shirt’s on inside out?” she asked tentatively, voice soft and low.</p>
<p>Aaron looked down at himself. He scowled at the stitching evident around his neck and shoulders, the buttons clearly backwards and facing into his chest. </p>
<p>What was worse, so much worse, was that it wasn’t even <em>his</em> shirt that he’d snatched up in a mad scramble to make it here. It was <em>Andrew’s.</em></p>
<p>“Great,” he growled, the sound pathetic and miserable and much more like a defeatist groan than anything, burying his head in his hands and tugging harshly at his roots, trying to divert the utter awfulness he was feeling.</p>
<p>Maybe he’d expected her to laugh at him. Or taunt him. Or admonish him for being late, because he’d learned very quickly that Katelyn Mun didn’t tolerate tardiness. She did none of those things and Aaron debated the pros and cons of just giving it all up now so maybe he could get some fucking sleep.</p>
<p>“Aaron,” she said softly, and it surely was a sign at how far gone he was that he didn’t even notice how nice his name sounded when it came out of her mouth.</p>
<p>“Have you eaten?” she asked and something moved in his periphery, snagging his attention. Something wrapped up and delicious looking. It became clear that he’d obviously lost his sanity because it now seemed as though he was hallucinating.</p>
<p>He stared at it, and her, mind taking in the facts but clearly not putting the pieces together.</p>
<p>A little crease appeared in her brow, her soft looking pink lips tugging downwards as she looked at him, the sandwich in her hand shaking a little enticingly. It snatched back Aaron’s attention.</p>
<p>“You can have it,” she said, a goddess offering a mere mortal a gift he didn’t deserve.</p>
<p>“You are an absolute fucking Angel,” he sighed, barely restraining himself from snatching the wrap out of her hands. </p>
<p>He didn’t waste a second before ripping the plastic wrapper off it and shoving it into his mouth like a starving man. It was chicken. And salad. And egg. And some kind of weirdly spicy dressing and Aaron was convinced that it was absolutely the best thing he had tasted in the entirety of his life.</p>
<p>“Here,” she said, moving a cup of something hot he hadn’t noticed previously beside his elbow.</p>
<p>When he looked at it she gave him a soft smile, one that curled a little at the edge, like the hint of a tease, “I promise it’s coffee this time.”</p>
<p>He didn’t care. He’d devour it anyway even if it was that awful tea she was always drinking.</p>
<p>He swallowed harshly around the mouthful he hadn’t properly chewed and forced it down his throat, uttering out a sincere, “Thank you,” that he felt down to his very soul.</p>
<p>She looked at him a moment, something strange crossing her expression, kind of like confusion but not quite. </p>
<p>But then she looked away back at her notes and shrugged, that little smile disappearing, “Well, Minyard. You’re hardly any use to me half asleep and starving are you?” </p>
<p>“Yeah,” he said, then swallowed a mouthful of hot liquid and pretended the bitterness he felt was from the coffee and not from her words. </p>
<p>He looked down at the wrap and decided where he was going to take his next bite, “Right. Of course. Thank you.”</p>
<p>They sat in silence, Katelyn typing away on her computer and pretending to not be flicking little glances in Aarons direction, Aaron trying to remember to chew his food properly before he swallowed and starting to feel a little like he was coming back to himself. </p>
<p>He was still bleary-eyed and stressed and his contacts itched something fierce, but at least now he wasn’t contemplating chewing off his own arm out of hunger anymore. </p>
<p>Just one more thing to fix.</p>
<p>“What are you- oh my god, this is a <em>library</em>,” Katelyn hissed at him as he yanked the fabric of Andrew’s shirt over his head.</p>
<p>“What?” he said, giving her a look as he uncovered his head and twisted the black shirt into the correct way. “I doubt Candace is going to have a heart attack from seeing a little bit of skin. Its’ not like I’m naked.”</p>
<p>“You’re <em>half</em> naked,” she corrected, pointedly not looking at him. “And that’s not the point- <em>hurry up and put your shirt back on.</em> Honestly.”</p>
<p>He scoffed, bemused, but dragged his gaze away from the side of her face where she was staring at her screen, the bright red streak in her otherwise dark hair falling to cover her delicate features. </p>
<p>He tugged the shirt back over his head, swallowed his annoyance that he’d mistakenly grabbed Andrew’s, and lifted his hands to indicate his now covered torso. </p>
<p>“Happy?” he asked, mocking.</p>
<p>Her gaze barely flickered to him before shooting back to her screen, “Yes.”</p>
<p>Girls were so weird.</p>
<p>“I mean, I figured you’d be used to it anyway,” he mused, taking a sip of his cooling coffee.</p>
<p>“And what, exactly, is that supposed to mean?” she snapped, and then she was glaring at him again.</p>
<p>“Well,” he frowned, then realized how that sounded. “Oh. No! I meant- <em>Shit.</em>”</p>
<p>Her eyes narrowed further, the dark brown of them cutting and severe.</p>
<p>He groaned and pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes, cursing his stupid mouth. Yet again.</p>
<p>“I just meant that you guys -you cheerleaders- cheer for the swim team right? And then you did that charity thing playing ultimate Frisbee against the soccer players last summer?” he rubbed at his face, corneas burning from the pressure of contacts digging into his eyeballs. “I wasn’t making any reference to any promiscuity you may or may not have, nor do I care.”</p>
<p>She said nothing and Aaron finally looked at her, concerned she would still be glaring at him and he’d have to make yet another absolute fool of himself trying to win his way back into her favour again.</p>
<p>She wasn’t glaring, thankfully, though her almond-shaped eyes were squinted like she wasn’t quite sure if she believed him or not. </p>
<p>He shoved in the last two mouthfuls of food into his mouth to stop himself from saying anything else ridiculously stupid and unintentionally offensive. </p>
<p>It was too much. His cheeks bulged, it was hard to chew. He pressed the back of his hand to his mouth and prayed to any god that may listen that he didn’t choke and spill his mouth’s contents all over the table. </p>
<p>Wouldn’t that just be the shit icing on his already awful week cake? </p>
<p>Was she-? She was laughing at him. Not out loud, but he could tell by the way her mouth pinched and her eyes crinkled. </p>
<p>“You’re a mess,” she said, but not unkindly. </p>
<p>He snorted, but regretted it instantly. He forced himself to swallow and ignored the burn and that heavy clog of unchewed food traveling down his throat. </p>
<p>“Yeah,” he said, once he could and without any scorn. “Tell me something I don’t know.”</p>
<p>She was looking at his- why was she looking at his mouth? </p>
<p>“You’ve got a little,” she said, mouth still pinched like she was restraining a smile, and then pointed to the corner of her own mouth. </p>
<p>Aaron started a little when he caught what she meant, feeling a flush of heat up his neck. It was from the spicy sauce he had sitting in the corner of his mouth, definitely not because he’d been staring at hers.</p>
<p>Definitely not. </p>
<p>Then the feeling went away when she asked him how far he’d gotten along and he had to admit to her that he’d gotten nowhere. </p>
<p>She was far less pleased after learning that. </p>
<p>**</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As the days bled into weeks, Katelyn started to realize a few things about Aaron Minyard.</p>
<p>Things that she hadn’t considered before. Things she’d never heard anyone say about him. Things she would have never discovered had she not been forced into spending time with him. </p>
<p>It made her realize that maybe she had been making unfair assumptions about him based on rumours and other people’s opinions, rather than her own observations. That a lot of the things people said about Aaron Minyard were wrong, and that there were a lot of things that they’d missed. </p>
<p>First, he had an amazing memory. Somehow he remembered facts and numbers and references that were from the beginning of the year, spitting them out like a search engine without even using his notes as a reference. Katelyn was absolutely jealous and more than a little resentful. </p>
<p>Second, he was actually pretty talkative. When he wasn’t scowling and sour and being all prickly and irritable, he could almost be quite pleasant. Almost. </p>
<p>He didn’t feel a need to fill the silence and he spoke low and concise like he didn’t want to waste his words, but when he did talk he could be quite amicable.</p>
<p>And when he was talking about medicine and theories his hazel eyes would light up in a way that rivalled Katelyn’s own enthusiasm and passion. It was something quite startling to witness.</p>
<p>Thirdly, he was surprisingly sensitive. Katelyn hadn’t expected that. </p>
<p>Katelyn had inherited her eomma’s sharp tongue and dry wit and even their cordial truce didn’t stop her from being her natural and blunt self. </p>
<p>What she’d thought was Aaron’s uncaring and apathy at first had soon evolved in her seeing a bit deeper, watching her carelessly flung arrows hit and Aaron try not to crumble beneath them. </p>
<p>How long had he started to care about her opinion? When did that happen? <em>Why?</em> Aaron made no secret of his intolerance for others, nor did he seem to crumble under anyone else’s harsh words or taunts. </p>
<p>He was, without a doubt, an asshole. But the time she spent with him seemed to uncover the bones of it; he wore it like a defense, a shield. It seemed more than just a blatant disregard of other people. She warned herself to be more gentle, for he had stopped lashing out at her and it seemed unfair that she didn’t return the favour. </p>
<p>Fourth, and this turned out to be a rather irritating admittance, Katelyn found that she actually kind of liked him. Maybe. A little bit. </p>
<p>She blamed it on what she was now calling her ‘Tuesday Stumble’. </p>
<p>She’d been talking to Jo, a girl from her study group, walking out of their lecture hall and foolishly waving her arm around despite the many textbooks and papers she had balancing in her arms. </p>
<p>Then her foot had caught on something slippery, a patch of water perhaps, and everything had tipped sideways. </p>
<p>A warm hand found its way to her back, steading her, another grabbing a fast grip of her tumbling load and saving them from crashing to the floor. </p>
<p>Katelyn managed to gather her own feet and her precarious stack of books and turned at the sound of Jo saying, “What a hero,” her voice teasing and light. </p>
<p>Aaron Minyard had pulled his gaze away from her, flicking to Jo, before he released her abruptly. “Whatever,” he’d muttered, hitching his own bag over his shoulder and stalking off without another look. </p>
<p>“Well, that was nice,” Jo mused. “Who knew Minyard knew how to be nice?”</p>
<p>Katelyn only noticed that she hadn’t dragged her gaze away from his retreating form when she finally met Jo’s almost amused expression. </p>
<p>“Yeah,” Katelyn had replied breezily, still feeling the press of his hand at her back. “Who knew.”</p>
<p>Most disappointing of all was how easily affected she’d been by such a cliché. Turns out she was as easy as any other damsel. How disappointing.</p>
<p>And, well. She supposed she did have to admit that she did rather enjoy looking at him.</p>
<p>She’d always known, objectively, that he was attractive. He was a college athlete, so his body was in shape. If she’d doubted it before, the small glimpse she’d gotten in the library had definitely confirmed it. </p>
<p>He had pleasant features, whisky coloured eyes that were almost a shade green in the right lighting. A wider nose that boasted a few freckles along the bridge. A full mouth, when it wasn’t pulled to a frown. That, in fact, curled up in an almost pleasant manner whenever he smiled. Or bit it. Or touched his worn thumb to his lip. </p>
<p>His dirty blond hair curled over his forehead, and the man was constantly pushing it back in a casual move that snagged Katelyn’s gaze on more than one occasion. </p>
<p>Katelyn was finding it increasingly difficult to deny that Aaron Minyard was actually kind of hot, and the attraction had been creeping up on her more and more in the time she spent with him. </p>
<p>It was inconvenient, to say the least. </p>
<p>There was no doubt in Katelyn’s mind that Aaron Minyard had issues. How many, and how deep those issues ran, was entirely up to speculation. But, and this was most concerting, she found herself plagued with the urge to figure them out. </p>
<p>Which wasn’t fair to Aaron, for her to treat him like an interesting specimen to dissect under her scalpel, but the intrigue was there all the same and it refused to <em>go away.</em> </p>
<p>More to the point, she <em>shouldn’t</em> like him. He’d been excessively rude to her on more than one occasion, completely without reason. He’d knocked her down – accidently, yes. But it’s not like he’d shown any remorse at the time- and judged her completely without even bothering to get to know her. It was all the kind of things she should despise in a man. But. </p>
<p>But he redeemed himself in these subtle, honest ways. </p>
<p>It was the little things, like the way he watched her when she was speaking, never dismissing her opinion. And maybe it was a little endearing the way he stuttered and fumbled sometimes, almost like she was making him nervous. It was so different from the cold and serious man she’d thought him to be. And, <em>maybe</em>, it was a little bit about the <em>way</em> he watched her, his interest noticeable but not offensive. An unobtrusive gaze that lingered but didn’t itch. She found that she didn’t mind him looking at her. Maybe she even <em>liked</em> it.</p>
<p>But it was complicated, and Katelyn didn’t have time for complicated. </p>
<p>Never mind the fact that the Vixens and the Foxes were still being hostile towards each other, despite attempts to defuse the situation. Whilst Katelyn refused to be part of it, she was still affected by it, and the last thing she needed was her teammates turning on her because she’d developed an unlikely and unexpected crush on someone they’d labelled as an enemy.</p>
<p>But, well. There was no harm in a little innocent flirting, right? It didn’t have to be a <em>thing.</em></p>
<p>And that’s exactly what she tried to tell herself on a Friday afternoon when they found themselves unexpectedly stranded in the rain.</p>
<p>Katelyn sighed, shrugging off her bag and clutching it to her chest protectively. </p>
<p>Aaron moved at her side, stepping a bit closer and into her space. </p>
<p>His face was a scowl, staring into the relentless downpour, little gatherings of moisture clinging to the strands of his hair. He met her gaze and nodded, a silent communication passing between them. And then they ran, leaving everyone else to hover at the library entrance. </p>
<p>Katelyn let out a completely undignified shriek as she was caught in it, bolting across the court to the closest cover. Aaron was a body moving at her side, his arms holding up his jacket in a futile attempt to shelter them both.</p>
<p>They made it to a doorway, slamming into the brick under the canopy, unbridled laughter spilling freely from her chest. Two other students were there, watching the rain with wary eyes and drenched hair and clothes. Their water-proof jackets were wrapped around bundles in their arms, and Katelyn had no doubt that they contained laptops and textbooks, both of which were highly allergic to water.</p>
<p>“We’re gonna be late,” one of them said.</p>
<p>“It might let up.”</p>
<p>“It won’t. And then we’ll be late <em>and</em> wet.”</p>
<p>The other guy sighed, “Fine. One, two, three.” And then they ran together across the court, trying and failing to dodge around puddles.</p>
<p>Katelyn looked away from them to look at Aaron, but Aaron was already looking at her.</p>
<p>She offered him a small but genuine smile, “Thanks.”</p>
<p>His hair was plastered to the side of his face, but stuck up where his jacket had rubbed on top. His eyes were crinkled at the edges, sparkling and light with something like humour. It was a sight that Katelyn had begun to see more regularly. That, and the curl on the left corner of his mouth that resembled a wobbly and unpracticed -but still lovely- smile.</p>
<p>Katelyn spotted a wayward raindrop run along the ridge of his strong jaw and stubbled cheek and had to restrain the sudden urge to wipe it away with her fingertips.</p>
<p>“I love getting caught in the rain,” she said pointlessly, distracting herself from the miniscule distance there was between them. </p>
<p>Every time they moved just slightly, their arms brushed and Katelyn was hyper-fixated on this to the point of ridiculousness.</p>
<p>“Do you also love Pina Coladas?” he asked, dark blonde eyebrow arched as the water dripped down from his hair. </p>
<p>Oh god, she couldn’t even help herself. Her laughter burst out of her chest completely without warning. That ugly kind of laugh, that takes over your whole body and tries to crumple you to the floor. </p>
<p>Her hand reached for purchase and found something solid and warm and Katelyn decided to pretend that it wasn’t a big deal and that her hand wasn’t absolutely burning from the heat radiating off Aaron’s warm and muscled arm.</p>
<p>The sensation helped sober her up a little. </p>
<p>“You’re so lame,” she teased, a smile still clinging stubbornly to her face. </p>
<p>Silence stretched for a moment. And then he spoke,</p>
<p>“I’ve never heard you laugh like that before.” </p>
<p>There was something so raw in his voice, something low and a little gravelly, that had Katelyn immediately looking at him.</p>
<p>And his gaze, well. It was a whole lot more intense than it was a minute ago. He was watching her with such a focus, eyes rolling all around her face like he was committing it to memory.</p>
<p>Then his gaze dropped, eyes running down her before shooting back up like if he was fast enough then she’d miss it. She didn’t.</p>
<p>Katelyn immediately felt warm, and tried to ignore the heat that was easily creeping across her pale face, the buzzing electricity of her skin.</p>
<p>She shrugged, like she was still cool, mouth curved to tease, “You’ve never been that funny before.”</p>
<p>Aaron let out a huff of amusement, and they both inhaled at the same time and pretended that the reason they were drifting closer was the rain, and not the obvious attraction between them.</p>
<p>Aaron licked his lips and kept failing to drag his gaze away from hers, flickering away and then bouncing back like a yo-yo. </p>
<p>“It wasn’t that funny,” he said, voice hushed and low.</p>
<p>“I know,” she said, intimate into the dwindling space between them. Katelyn didn’t remove her hand from Aaron’s shoulder and Aaron gave absolutely no indication that he wanted her to.</p>
<p>The rain poured down and they were secluded and alone in their own little sheltered cove, separate from the rest of the world. The air between them was charged with static, like it was building towards something. If they weren’t careful, they were going to get a nasty shock.</p>
<p>It felt like a good metaphor.</p>
<p>Dangerous. Do not cross. Warning. Hazardous. </p>
<p>There was a line there and Katelyn was suddenly struck by the insane urge to cross it, despite all her better judgement.</p>
<p>Maybe she was coming down with something. A spring sickness. It would certainly account for why her head was feeling a little fuzzy, and her heart was beating a little fast, and her body felt warm all over, despite her cold damp clothing.</p>
<p>Although that certainly didn’t account for Katelyn’s overwhelming feeling of wanting to stay here with Aaron, cold and wet and against uncomfortable brick, for as long as they could possibly drag it out.</p>
<p>“We should probably head off,” he said, voice still that low and gravelly tone that was affecting Katelyn quite thoroughly.</p>
<p>“Yeah,” she said, but instead of moving away she found her fingers spreading further on his shoulder, like they were exploring the plains.</p>
<p>She was <em>caressing</em> him. Like a <em>harlot</em>. Bad Katelyn.</p>
<p>She snatched her hand back like he’d burned her and clutched it to her chest to keep it to herself.</p>
<p>This was getting a little bit ridiculous. Katelyn had had crushes before, but this one was turning her usually reliable brain into squishy, useless mush.</p>
<p>He was looking at her like he was amused, maybe he could hear those nonsensical thoughts in her head. Wouldn’t that just be mortifying?</p>
<p>Then his hand came up and reached towards her head and Katelyn felt her breath leave her in an unsteady rush. And maybe her heart skipped, just a little.</p>
<p>“You’ve got a…” he said, then she felt the slightest tug on her roots and he pulled his hand back to reveal what it was that had captured his attention.</p>
<p>A post-it note, bright yellow, having somehow embedded itself into her hair. It was understandably wet, the ink having bled and making whatever it was on it unintelligible.</p>
<p>He handed it to her and she felt a creeping disappointment because… what? What exactly had she expected?<br/>
Yeah, no. She knew exactly what she’d expected and she was already admonishing herself for it. </p>
<p>“Hey,” he said, voice all low and warm, making her chest flutter a little despite her determination that it <em>not.</em> “I have to go, but… here,” and he took off his already dripping jacket, flicked off some of the raindrops, and slung it around her shoulders.</p>
<p>His fingers grazed her neck when he tugged up the hood. They were surprisingly warm, rough fingertips grazing against her skin.</p>
<p>She couldn’t hide her shiver. From the way he ducked his head she thought that he might have noticed.</p>
<p>“Thank you,” she said, unable to pull herself together enough to fight against his chivalry. </p>
<p>“Any time,” he said, like he meant it. “See you later, Katelyn,” then he was off into the rain in nothing but a maroon t-shirt, his form slowly but surely getting blurred by grey sleet.</p>
<p>Oh, dear. Katelyn might be in a bit more trouble than she’d originally thought. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>**</p>
<p>Aaron was waiting at their table that Friday, already with his notes unpacked and his laptop open, typing away on the keys and drafting his summary. </p>
<p>His gaze wasn’t drifting to the doors. Definitely not. That would just be all kinds of pitiful and Aaron didn’t need any more reasons to feel ridiculous. </p>
<p>He didn’t look forward to working with her. It wasn’t the highlight of his entire week. He didn’t find himself thinking about what he’d say to her the next time they spoke, and he most definitely didn’t have to squash the urge he had to text her in the evenings, with his inane grousings and pointed remarks that never failed in getting the corner of Katelyn’s pretty pink mouth to turn up just that little bit, like she found him amusing. Absolutely not. </p>
<p>It was <em>nothing.</em></p>
<p>When she finally arrived, she was five minutes late, face flushed and hair pulled back into a plait that was letting a few dark strands escape around her face. </p>
<p>“Sorry,” she muttered, but she seemed distracted. Stressed, even. There were very few times that Aaron saw Katelyn as anything other than composed, and all of those times she’d been angry. </p>
<p>This, he thought -he hoped- wasn’t due to anything that he could be blamed for. </p>
<p>“Everything okay?“ he ventured, despite the instinctual urge to keep himself out of it. Other people’s problems were not Aaron’s problems, but this was <em>Katelyn</em> and Aaron wondered just when in the fuck that had started to actually mean something. </p>
<p>“Yep, it’s fine,” she spoke shortly, eyes flickering to him and then away, arranging her work area around her. </p>
<p>He nodded, but he knew she wasn’t looking at him. </p>
<p>“I need to get this done quickly,” she said finally. “I don’t have time for messing around. I have Regionals coming up and I can’t fail.”</p>
<p>Then she looked at him, something dark and troubled in her expression, “Don’t screw me around, Minyard.”</p>
<p>He looked at her and he said, “Okay.”</p>
<p>There was nothing else that he could say to her. </p>
<p>She-</p>
<p>She was something. </p>
<p>And he found himself fighting the urge of wanting to keep her. </p>
<p>He couldn’t, of course. That entire notion was foolish. She wasn’t even his to <em>keep.</em> </p>
<p>But he found himself willing to do almost anything to remove that stressed look from her otherwise stunning features. To smooth that frown in her brow and the tightness from her mouth. </p>
<p>So he agreed. This assignment of theirs? That was his new priority, all his other piles of existing assignments and due papers be damned. This was important. </p>
<p>He leaned over to his bag and pulled out the little package and pretended that his pulse wasn’t pounding and that his neck wasn’t hot, dumping the offering on the table beside her without any form of grace. </p>
<p>“Here,” he said, when she finally looked at it. </p>
<p>She gave him a wary look, eyeing the bag as though it may bite her, that hint of a smile teasing at the edge of her mouth.</p>
<p>“What is it?“ she asked.</p>
<p>Aaron shrugged, trying to also shrug off the incessant nerves that were tripping away under his skin. He was nonchalant. Because this was nothing. </p>
<p>“Food,” he said. “You have regionals coming up, right? I figured you were probably swamped.”</p>
<p>She peered into the bag, gaze turning inquisitive. Then she looked back at him and he couldn’t tell what she was thinking, </p>
<p>“You brought me sushi?” </p>
<p>“Yeah,” he shrugged, because he was cool and unaffected. Smooth, even. “But I didn’t check if you were allowed to eat rice.”</p>
<p>It took a moment of her just watching him with that same unreadable look on her face, capturing his gaze. </p>
<p>And then she smiled. </p>
<p>It was something small and curling, higher on the left side than the right. It crinkled at her eyes and Aaron thought that maybe that could be what happiness looked like. Even if it was only a little, even if it was only a glimpse in the face of kindness, it was something.</p>
<p>Happiness looked so damn good on Katelyn. </p>
<p>And he- he’d helped put it there.</p>
<p>She ducked her head and dropped her gaze and let out a short laugh, tugging the paper bag to herself with a, “As if they could ever stop me from eating rice.”</p>
<p>“Yeah,” Aaron cleared the hoarseness from his throat. “True.”</p>
<p>“Thank you,” she said. She was looking at him from under her lashes, all pretty and amused looking and he thought perhaps she was laughing at him and the urge to fidget was almost unbearable.</p>
<p>“Uh, yeah,” he grunted, running a hand through his hair, all totally casual and definitely not awkward. “Whatever.”</p>
<p>She sighed and rolled her eyes, shaking her head to herself and muttering under her breath as she tore into the bag.</p>
<p>He placed a large takeaway cup next to her elbow.</p>
<p>She bit her lip as she looked at it, “Wow, I sure am getting spoiled today.”</p>
<p>“Don’t get excited,” he scoffed. “It’s just that green tea shit that you like.”</p>
<p>She laughed something soft under her breath and Aaron wanted to lean closer just to follow the sound.</p>
<p>“Why, Aaron Minyard, are you trying to seduce me?” she teased, voice low and sultry and lashes batting obnoxiously.</p>
<p>Aaron choked on his coffee then promptly burst into flames. </p>
<p>Oh, no. Wait. That was just his entire body turning the same colour as the salmon in her sushi rolls. Which, of course, was entirely because the hot liquid had been sucked into his trachea and not because he felt like he could absolutely die of embarrassment.</p>
<p>His heart was pounding so loud and catching his breath was near-impossible. His skin was over-sensitive and he was cursing his body’s useless fight-or-flight responses for the millionth time.</p>
<p>His mind was blank, all wires short-circuiting, just that low buzz of blood rushing in his ears.</p>
<p>He finished coughing. He cleared his throat. He had the back of his hand over his mouth and he flickered his gaze up to her on a dare.</p>
<p>Her thumbnail was sitting between her lips, face ducked and eyes on her screen, partially hidden by the red streak in her hair. Through the gaps, her cheeks were a wonderful rose-coloured pink.</p>
<p>She caught his gaze and blinked those dark eyes at him, mouth curled with mischief.</p>
<p>“Shall we?” she asked innocently.</p>
<p>“Uh,” he swallowed. Cleared his throat. “Yep.”</p>
<p>And then he had to deal with the problem of being overly-self aware. Was it obvious he was avoiding her gaze or did he usually not look at her this much? Or was he, in fact, looking a bit too much? Did he usually watch all of her movements? Was he looking a bit too intensely when their gazes met? Could he even look down at the table without it being obvious that he was also side-eyeing the teasingly exposed skin of her gorgeously tempting legs? <em>Oh fuck, she moved. She adjusted her tiny little shorts and she knew he was being a creep. Shit, shit. Fuck.</em></p>
<p>The only safe place to look was at his laptop screen but his mind refused to take in a single word of it. He didn’t even know what he’d written. He wouldn’t even be surprised to find something along the lines <em>‘Aaron Minyard and Katelyn Mun forever’</em> like a pathetic little middle schooler. He didn’t want to admit that he actually checked to make sure.</p>
<p>This was absolute torture.</p>
<p>Thank god she was wearing a reasonably high necked collar. Between avoiding the urge to check out her legs and his self-conscious inability to hold her gaze for longer than a split-second, his gaze ended up somewhere around her throat and his utterly horny brain probably wouldn’t be able to help itself.</p>
<p>Those two hours felt like the longest of his life. He wanted to both bolt from his chair and never leave this table ever again.</p>
<p>He ran his hands down his face and then up through his hair, stretching out his back and hoping to knock his system out of this utter ridiculousness. It was just attraction. He was a grown man for fuckssakes, he should be able to handle attraction without it turning him completely stupid. </p>
<p>Katelyn was staring at her keyboard, biting her lip, her gaze not moving from whatever it was looking at.</p>
<p>He looked at his watch and then did a double-take, “Shit.”</p>
<p>“What?” she looked up at him, a furrow in her brow, teeth still digging little indents into her bottom lip.</p>
<p>Aaron blinked away his distraction, “I have to go.”</p>
<p>“Okay,” she said. Her voice sounded a little strange. Her gaze flickered down to his mouth for the briefest second, skimming along his jaw.</p>
<p>Aaron squinted and rubbed the back of his hand over his mouth, immediately self-conscious that he’d had food on his face for the last hour since they’d eaten. He frowned at her as her eyes widened briefly and that pretty pink shade from earlier crept up into her cheekbones.</p>
<p>
  <em>Wha…?</em>
</p>
<p>But he didn’t have time to wonder. He absolutely did not want to have to deal with a ranting Kevin if he was late to practice. He snatched up his things and tried not to feel every little glance that Katelyn sent his way.</p>
<p>He was about to dart off, but paused.</p>
<p>“Text me,” he blurted. Then immediately backtracked at her confused look. “If you want, I mean. I’ll be in Columbia ‘til tomorrow, but we can meet up on Sunday? If you want. For the assignment? If you want.”</p>
<p>Oh yeah, he was so fucking smooth. </p>
<p>He barely restrained a wince at his own patheticness and didn’t even wait for her reply before he scrambled out of there like an absolute coward.</p>
<p>After practice there was a message on his phone that definitely didn’t send his pulse racing.</p>
<p>
  <em>Katelyn Mun: If you’re happy to waste your Sunday with me, then how does 10 sound?</em>
</p>
<p>It sounded like fucking heaven.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>**</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Where are you going?” Kelsey asked from her open doorway. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a bun, Bart Simpson’s face stretched to almost unrecognizable thanks to the ample bosom that had been magically squeezed into what was clearly a small man’s top.</p>
<p>“Nowhere,” Katelyn shrugged, paused on her way down the hall. Then corrected. “The library.”</p>
<p>“The library, huh?” Desiree leaned against the doorjamb of her and Kelsey’s shared room and narrowed her eyes at her. “And do you usually get all dolled up when you go to the library?”</p>
<p>She was not <em>‘dolled up’</em>. She was just wearing a little bit of lip-gloss. Maybe a brush of mascara. And a floral summer dress. It was nothing, really. </p>
<p>“It’s the weekend,” she said, like that was any explanation.</p>
<p>“Yes, because it’s so normal for you to get dolled up on the weekend,” Desiree raised a penciled eyebrow at her, tone heavy with sarcasm.</p>
<p>Okay, maybe she had made herself up a little, put in a little effort. Maybe she was hoping that, since Aaron Minyard had managed to capture her attention quite thoroughly, that she might be able to quite thoroughly capture his. </p>
<p>Kelsey’s mouth turned to an ‘o’ shape, eyes wide on Katelyn, “Who are you meeting?”</p>
<p>…But there were several reasons why she wasn’t going to share that information.</p>
<p>Katelyn hesitated, “No one.”</p>
<p>“Is there a party here that I wasn’t invited to?” Michelle appeared behind her. “Damn, Kate. You’re looking hot. What’s the occasion?”</p>
<p>
  <em>Oh. God.</em>
</p>
<p>“Kate’s got a date,” Kelsey grinned. “Ha-ha that rhymed.”</p>
<p>“What?” Michelle sent Katelyn a look. “No way.”</p>
<p>“It’s not a date,” Katelyn argued, trying desperately to hold in her telling flush. “I’m just going to the library.”</p>
<p>“Katelyn Mun’s ideal date is at the library,” Desiree snorted. “A surprise to no-one.”</p>
<p>“It’s. Not. A. <em>Date.</em>” She emphasized.</p>
<p>“Who is it?” Michelle grinned.</p>
<p>“’No-one’ apparently,” Desiree mocked.</p>
<p>Katelyn glared at her but the other girl was completely unfazed.</p>
<p>“We’re just working on our assignment,” she conceded. “That’s all. It’s absolutely not a date.” </p>
<p>“But you wish it was,” Kelsey teased.</p>
<p>
  <em>Don’t blush. Don’t blush. Don’t blush. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Damn. </em>
</p>
<p>“Oh my god, Kate!” Michelle grabbed a hold of Katelyn’s shoulders and started shaking her. “Who is this mystery man?”</p>
<p>“I told you, it’s no-one,” Katelyn’s face was on fire as she tried to untangle herself. “Maybe I just felt like looking pretty, you ever think of that?”</p>
<p>“Yeah,” Desiree said lightly, looking at her nails. “That’s usually how a person feels when they’re trying to get laid.”</p>
<p>“I-what?-I’m not-<em>oh my god,</em>” Katelyn fumbled, covering her face with her hands. “I hate all of you.”</p>
<p>“Lies,” Michelle mocked.</p>
<p><em>“If you want it, let’s do it,”</em> Desiree started singing pointedly at her, licking her lip suggestively and working her hips in an obscene manner. <em>“Ride it, my pony.”</em></p>
<p>Katelyn took the chance to escape down the hall, palms pressed over her ears like she had any hope of blocking out the sound.</p>
<p>To her mortification Kelsey and Michelle joined in, twisting their bodies in a debauched and exaggerated manner. The absolute <em>traitors.</em></p>
<p>
  <em>“My saddle, is waiting! Come and, jump on it!”</em>
</p>
<p>She shot them a dirty look as the elevator doors closed. They just laughed at her. </p>
<p>Bitches.</p>
<p>Aaron was already there when she arrived. </p>
<p>She wasn’t spying, because that would be weird. But she might have been a little nervous because those damn girls had made her feel all silly and maybe a little self-conscious. It wasn’t that she didn’t know that she looked good, but now she was very aware of her effort and how <em>obvious</em> it was. </p>
<p>But then Aaron Minyard spotted her, their eyes catching, and she immediately stopped worrying about it. </p>
<p>Her effort had not been wasted, it seemed. </p>
<p>She strolled over to him and maybe she let her hips swing, just a little. Any previous doubts she may have had about his interest was washed away, if the way he was looking at her was any indication. </p>
<p>He was definitely checking her out. If he was trying to hide it, then he was failing miserably. </p>
<p>“Hi,” she smiled at him. She wondered if she looked as smug as she felt. </p>
<p>“Hey,” he greeted in return, those hazel eyes of his now locked on her face. </p>
<p>A little thrill zinged up her spine. </p>
<p>She set up her things, pleased by his gaze on her but not catching him out. Not yet, at least. They had work to do, after all. </p>
<p>Aaron appeared distracted and she couldn’t even find it within herself to be annoyed. She may have been a little bit distracted herself. </p>
<p>Her stomach fluttered a little when their arms brushed harmlessly. She got goosebumps over her skin. Aaron paused too, like he’d felt the same thing. </p>
<p>The next time she did it was entirely on purpose and Aaron got a little flustered mid-speech. </p>
<p>God, when the heck had he gotten so <em>cute?</em> </p>
<p>A pink flush crawled up his neck and into his ears that were peaking through that disheveled hair of his. He’d run his hand through it six times already. Katelyn hadn’t hidden the fact that she was watching. </p>
<p>They broke for lunch, heading up to the café on the third level of the library. </p>
<p>They got to the table and Aaron gallantly tried to pretend that nothing was amiss, but Katelyn was having none of it. She was in flirt mode; leaning into his space a little, flicking her long hair over her shoulder, sending him little smiles, teasing him lightly. </p>
<p>He was affected by everything, and Katelyn grew a little bold. </p>
<p>Taking a bite from her sandwich, she asked, “Why haven’t you asked me out yet?”</p>
<p>The reaction was immediate. She really needed to stop saying things when he had his mouth full. </p>
<p>When he finally stopped choking and managed to swallow the bite of his own sandwich, he looked at her with wide eyes. </p>
<p>“I-uh,” he coughed, clearing his throat. “What?”</p>
<p>“You like me,” she said bluntly, despite the heat in her cheeks and the fast tripping of her pulse.</p>
<p>“What? No I don’t,” he crossed his arms over his chest, face turning to that scowl of his as he leaned back in his chair. </p>
<p>It was then she noticed that he hadn’t worn that expression around her in the longest time. It lost any effect when his face was a bright scarlet and his eyes looked at everything except her. </p>
<p>“Oh, so I was just imagining it when I saw you checking me out earlier?” she teased, propping her chin up on her palm and raising a pointed eyebrow at him.</p>
<p>Impossibly, he managed to turn redder. It was endearing, to say the least. </p>
<p>He didn’t deny it, though. This time. </p>
<p>“Just in case I wasn’t making it obvious,” she spoke lowly, leaning a little bit into his space and looking up at him through her lashes. Being bold despite the nerves that were fluttering away in her stomach. “I like you, too.”</p>
<p>His gaze finally met hers, but it was narrowed and skeptical, “No, you don’t.”</p>
<p>“Oh? Don’t I?” Katelyn leaned back, tone this side of mocking. “I didn’t realize that you were the authority on my likes and dislikes. How silly of me.”</p>
<p>“You know that’s not what I meant.”</p>
<p>“Hmm, I wonder,” she tapped a finger to her chin. “Am I democratic or republican?” Then she shot Aaron a pointed look. “Aaron?”</p>
<p>He scoffed at her and shook his head, unimpressed.</p>
<p>“Pineapple on a pizza? My favourite book? Oh, no. Do I even <em>like</em> reading?-“</p>
<p>“-you’re not funny.”</p>
<p>“Who’s my favourite philosopher, is it Freud? Wait, do I even like medicine? Maybe I should just quit,” she mused, sarcasm evident in her tone. “Help me, Aaron. How could I possibly know these answers without you?”</p>
<p>“You’ve made your point,” he glared, but there was a hint of something that almost looked like amusement in the creases around his mouth.</p>
<p>“Have I?” She stared him down with a sharp smile.</p>
<p>“Yes,” he said. Then he uncrossed his arms and he leaned forward in his seat with a challenging expression. “And you hate Freud, although you reluctantly agree with him on a few things. You’re definitely democratic, I don’t even need to ask you that. Your favourite book seems to be that Korean one you take everywhere in your bag. You don’t even like pizza, you just pretend that you do.”</p>
<p>Katelyn stared.</p>
<p>She inhaled a shaky breath, refusing to look away from the intensity of his stare. When the hell did he figure out all of that? </p>
<p>“And medicine?” she asked, trying to pretend she wasn’t affected.</p>
<p>“Doesn’t matter,” he shrugged, leaning back once again in his chair.</p>
<p>“Excuse me?” </p>
<p>“It doesn’t matter whether you like medicine or not. One day you’re going to be a neurosurgeon because that’s exactly what’s expected of you.”</p>
<p>He just-</p>
<p>Oh, did he really just-</p>
<p>“How dare you,” her voice was shallow, the words falling out on the rush of breath that deserted her lungs. It was like lying on the ground again with the wind knocked out of her.</p>
<p>She felt so exposed. Raw. Like he’d dug around inside and pulled some of her innards out. It hurt so bad it was almost good. It was hard to catch her breath because her chest was tight, but each inhale was so deep like she was trying to hold herself steady. Was this what it was like, when somebody knew you? Was it always this confusing mix of pain and comfort? She wanted to be angry with him but she was scrambling to find the justification.</p>
<p>He wiped a hand over his mouth, leaning forward once again in his chair. His knuckles rapped on the tabletop. He looked like he was trying to say something, a complicated set of expressions morphing over his face.</p>
<p>Then he cracked his left fist with his right hand and met Katelyn’s searching look.</p>
<p>“I think you’re fucking incredible, Katelyn Mun. There’s not a single thing you can’t do once you’ve put your mind to it,” He said, voice deep and dark and a little bit husky and it made her stomach flutter ruthlessly. “But I’m not the kind of man you seem to think I am,” he said, and his mouth twisted to something self mocking. “And you deserve better than that.”</p>
<p>Katelyn’s heart was beating wildly in the tight expanse of her chest. </p>
<p>“Did you really just say all that and then expect me to not be interested anymore?” She asked dubiously. “If anything, you’ve made it worse”</p>
<p>Aaron let out what almost sounded like a frustrated growl and rubbed his hands over his face, “You’re not taking this seriously.”</p>
<p>Then she sighed, and rolled her eyes, forcibly breaking the tension, “Geez Aaron, I’m not asking for a marriage proposal. Just that we stop dancing around the obvious fact that we’re into each other. Honestly, it’s just exhausting at this point.”</p>
<p>He pressed his fingers to his temples like she was giving him a headache, frowning at her between the gap in his arms, “You’re very frustrating.”</p>
<p>“Oh?” and she gave him a wicked grin, threading her fingers through her hair and pulling it over her shoulder. “I haven’t even started trying yet.”</p>
<p>He squeezed his eyes shut and grit out, “I don’t date.”</p>
<p>“Okay,” she said slowly, ignoring that little pang of disappointment in her chest. “So does that mean you’re only interested in casual hookups?”</p>
<p>“No,” he said immediately. “Yes. Maybe. It’s complicated.”</p>
<p>“Oh,” she said, a thought suddenly dawning on her. “I’m sorry. Are you Aro?”</p>
<p>“What?” he squinted at her like she was speaking Korean.</p>
<p>“I mean, you don’t have to answer of course,” she said, leaning closer and lowering her voice. “Just please know that I wasn’t intentionally trying to be insensitive.” </p>
<p>He rubbed the back of his neck as he squinted at her, “I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”</p>
<p>“Aromantic,” she explained. “It’s a broad spectrum with a lot of different variables, but the main correlation is people who don’t experience romantic attraction towards others.”</p>
<p>He stared at her like he was waiting for a punchline. Then he said, “That sounds like a load of bullshit.”</p>
<p>“Don’t,” she snapped immediately, “you <em>dare</em> be dismissive just because it’s something you may not understand. Educate yourself so that you do.”</p>
<p>He blinked at her, eyes wide at her tone.</p>
<p>She narrowed her eyes further, righteous anger thrumming under her skin.</p>
<p>“Okay,” he held his hands up in surrender. “Okay. Got it.”</p>
<p>“Good,” she nodded curtly, taking the last sip of her tea. Then she looked up and her eyes caught on a familiar face, dark features twisted to a frown, gaze focused entirely on Katelyn and who she was sitting with.</p>
<p>Katelyn had that sinking feeling, guilty like she’d just been caught doing something very, very wrong. </p>
<p><em>“Shit,”</em> she breathed.</p>
<p>Aaron heard her, frowning at her stark expression and then immediately turning around to see what Katelyn was looking at.</p>
<p>Oh, she really wished he hadn’t. </p>
<p>He took a moment to locate who she’d been looking at, but she saw it the exact moment he did. He froze. Just for a moment. Then he turned back to look at her and the look he gave her was dark.</p>
<p>“Embarrassed to be seen with me, huh Katelyn?” he accused, voice cold and bitter.</p>
<p>“It’s not what you think- <em>Aaron,</em>” she hissed, trying to stop him from leaving, to let her explain, but the absolutely frosty look he sent her had her chest feeling tight. Now she felt extra guilty. On both sides. </p>
<p>This was such a mess.</p>
<p>She tugged on his fingers before he could leave, leaning over the table to stop him, “Wait. Aaron, please-“</p>
<p>He scoffed sharply and shook his head and then he finally looked at her and it wasn’t angry anymore. It was something resigned and sad and <em>hurt</em> and Katelyn found that she hurt for him.</p>
<p>“I told you so,” he said, then tugged his fingers out of her hold and strode out of the café and Katelyn was left there feeling utterly shitty and awful.</p>
<p>Ciara waited for a full three minutes of Katelyn scowling miserably into her cup before she strolled over and sat in the chair that Aaron had vacated, clearly not impressed that Katelyn hadn’t been the one to go to <em>her</em>. Ciara’s scary captain look didn’t work if you avoided eye contact. Like a coward.</p>
<p>“So,” Ciara said with a tone that made it clear she wanted an explanation.</p>
<p>“Don’t,” Katelyn said miserably, crossing her arms over her chest.</p>
<p>“Oh, I’m gonna,” Ciara said. “Don’t be difficult and this will be relatively painless.”</p>
<p>Katelyn sent her a skeptical look, but ultimately sighed in defeat, “He’s in my group for an assignment. We’ve been working together for weeks now.” </p>
<p>“Yeahhhh, okay,” she nodded slowly. “Are you seriously dating Andrew Minyard?”</p>
<p>“Am I- <em>what?</em>” Katelyn blinked at her. “You think-? That’s <em>Aaron.</em> Do you really think-? Wait. No. I’m not even gonna go there.”</p>
<p>“Oh, thank god,” Ciara exhaled. “I thought it was Aaron but I wasn’t sure. I just needed to gage how crazy you actually are: turns out you’re bat-shit, but not quite committable.”</p>
<p>“You’re not funny,” Katelyn said petulantly.</p>
<p>“Do you really think I’m joking?” Ciara asked in a tone that definitely said she wasn’t. Then she sighed and ran her hands over her face. “You all planned this didn’t you? ‘It’s Ciara’s last year as captain before she graduates. Let’s cause as much trouble as possible so that all her hair falls out’.”</p>
<p>Katelyn scoffed at her dramatics.</p>
<p>Ciara shot her a look that was almost pleading, “Couldn’t you choose literally <em>anyone</em> else?”</p>
<p>“We’re not dating,” Katelyn snapped, feeling a little stung and maybe a little sorry for herself. </p>
<p>Ciara waved that off with her hand, “Look, I’m gonna be straight with you; I don’t care who you’re dating. You could be dating nobody or you could be seeing the entire football and netball teams put together: I don’t care. That’s up you.” </p>
<p>“But I just want you to understand that there will be a reaction to this and you may not like it. I love my Vixens fiercely, but some of them can be real nasty bitches and this will not go down well,” she held her hand up to stop Katelyn’s interruption. “You know that a lot of them have not let this whole stupid war thing go. They’re still angry with the Exy team and those Minyard twins in particular. To some, this could be seen as a betrayal.”</p>
<p>Katelyn ground her teeth, staring at the table. She wasn’t stupid, she already knew all of that. It was why she refused to say anything in the first place, why she’d freaked when she’d spotted Ciara. </p>
<p>“I’m not telling you what to do, but you need to ask yourself: is it worth it?”</p>
<p><em>Is it worth it?</em> </p>
<p>Aaron may not even want anything to do with her anyway, if the look he gave her when he left was any indication. </p>
<p>She could just let it go and leave her infatuation to wither and die. She’d done it before and she could do it again. </p>
<p>She let out a breath and looked up at Ciara’s beautiful dark face. Ciara sighed before standing, rubbing her hand on the top of Katelyn’s head and messing up her hair. </p>
<p>“See you back at the dorms, Kate,” then left to let Katelyn stew in her own self-pity and guilt and endlessly circling questions.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>17:05 Katelyn Mun: Hey, can we talk?</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>17:18 Missed call from Katelyn Mun</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>17:25 Katelyn Mun: Aaron, c’mon. It wasn’t like that, just let me explain. Please? </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>17:55 Katelyn Mun: I know you’re getting my messages. Don’t ignore me forever. </em>
</p>
<p>……</p>
<p>
  <em>21:33 Katelyn Mun: are you still going to come to the library on Wednesday? </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>21:41: Aaron Minyard: yep. </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>**</p>
<p>It was confirmed: life was officially out to make Aaron as miserable as possible. It took the things that he wanted most and waved them in front of his face. Taunting, teasing and always just out of his reach.</p>
<p>He’d wanted a mother and he’d gotten a neglectful addict.</p>
<p>He’d wanted a brother and he’d gotten a sociopathic murderer.</p>
<p>He wanted Katelyn Mun -Oh, how he wanted Katelyn- But Aaron’s world was very dark and very fucked up, and having Katelyn would be bringing her into that and he just couldn’t do that to her.</p>
<p>But there was that voice in his head. The selfish one. The greedy one. The one that told him to ignore all of his reservations and take exactly what it was that he wanted. </p>
<p>He couldn’t get the memory of Katelyn Mun blatantly flirting with him, propositioning him, out of his damn mind. The very idea of it was so unexpected, so impossible, that he could scarcely believe that it had been <em>real.</em></p>
<p>But he also couldn’t forget the look of absolute panic that had crossed her face when they’d been spotted by one of those damn cheerleaders, and the bitterness came crawling back.</p>
<p>Fucking hell, but he had to let this <em>go.</em></p>
<p>He stared ahead at the board as he jotted down his notes and pointedly did not look at the familiar straight dark hair seated four rows in front of him, the red streak of it catching in the light and reflecting off it like fire. </p>
<p>He wasn’t looking at the way her red t-shirt creased in the curve of her elegant back, or where the neck of it fell off her shoulder and exposed the dark strap of her bra. He definitely wasn’t looking at that.</p>
<p>He was also definitely not looking at the meathead next to her, who was all tall and tanned and built and smiling too widely, leaning towards her and making her laugh like the absolute twat that he was.</p>
<p>And he was definitely not scowling at the way that said meathead nudged his pen off the desk and Katelyn -lovely, kind and considerate Katelyn- immediately leaned to pick it up and Fuck-face eagerly took the opportunity to drop his gaze down her shirt.</p>
<p>He wasn’t jealous because that would be stupid and completely unjustifiable. He was just… Katelyn was his friend and he didn’t want some Dickhead taking advantage. That was all.</p>
<p>And when the fucker leaned over and rested his hand on the back of Katelyn’s chair as he invited himself into her space to show her something or another, face far closer than what was necessary <em>-honestly, what the fuck was up with this guy? Did he not know what personal space was? Back off, Dickbrain. She doesn’t need you breathing all over her like some horny moron who couldn’t tell the difference between a white blood cell and a red blood cell even if he was handed a microscope</em></p>
<p>Aaron definitely wasn’t jealous.</p>
<p>Shut up, he wasn’t glaring</p>
<p>Katelyn shifted in her seat, body turned towards Fuckbag but leaning away, and Aaron caught a glimpse of her plastic, cheerleader smile aimed at the guy and suddenly he was glaring for a whole different reason.</p>
<p>Katelyn’s gaze roamed the hall and found Aaron’s quickly, her smile unfreezing from its plastered version and settling into something that was more like a grimace.</p>
<p>Maybe before he would have pretended that he hadn’t been watching (glaring), but now he didn’t bother to pretend because Katelyn was quite clearly uncomfortable and that was just <em>not fucking okay.</em></p>
<p>Katelyn only met his gaze for a small moment before Fuckwit said something to demand her attention back and Aaron watched the way she smiled that wide and fake cheerleader smile of hers. The way she was turned towards the guy, but leaning away, her ass on the far edge of her seat and her body bent forwards to avoid any contact with his hand that still rested on the seatback behind her.</p>
<p>Her laugh, when he caught the edge of it under the low murmurs of the hall, was hollow and fake. Appeasing. Certainly not the low and breathless sound she usually made when she really laughed. Nothing like how she’d sounded when they’d been caught in the rain. </p>
<p>Every time she turned to look back at the board or down at her notes Douchebag kept trying to talk to her, and Aaron wondered how the hell Katelyn could make it anymore painfully obvious that she was <em>not interested.</em></p>
<p>Oh yeah, there was no way in hell Aaron was feeling any kind of jealousy anymore. Now he was just <em>fucked off.</em></p>
<p>Class ended and Katelyn packed up her things faster than Aaron had ever seen her pack them up before. Aaron slung his bag over his shoulder because he’d already packed up two minutes before and made his way straight to Katelyn, roughly dodging around people who didn’t get out of his way fast enough. </p>
<p>Katelyn was paused at the front desk and, from the twist of her mouth, Aaron could tell she was clearly displeased that Fucktard had invited himself to hover with her.</p>
<p>Her eyes were skimming around and they landed on Aaron and that’s where they stayed. </p>
<p>“Aaron,” she smiled widely when he got closer, cutting off whatever Shit-for-brains had just said, sounding like she’d just spotted Aaron and not at all like her widened dark eyes had demanded his presence immediately.</p>
<p>He cut in between them smoothly, both because he was small for a man and because he was an Exy backliner who was used to using that to his advantage, a nuisance highly adept at blocking cocky assholes from their goal.</p>
<p>“Lunch?” he asked, trying and failing to keep the aggression out of his voice. He ignored the glare he could feel Fuckwit aiming at his head, and the heavy presence of him at his back as Aaron blatantly disrespected him.</p>
<p>“Yes,” she breathed, the relief heavy in her tone, smiling at him a little shakily. “That would be perfect.”</p>
<p>“Uh, Kate?” Dickwad gave a cocky laugh. “Weren’t we just gonna-?”</p>
<p>“C’mon, lets go. My treat,” Aaron cut him off ruthlessly, directing Katelyn with a hand to the doorway, his other hovering at the small of her back.</p>
<p>“I still owe you for breakfast this morning,” she said with a flirty smile, tone heavy with implication. Then she turned in Aaron’s space and let him lead her, stopping only to throw a, “Oh, uh. It was nice to meet you… Harvey, was it?” over her shoulder.</p>
<p>Aaron clenched his jaw, teeth grinding. There was no way Katelyn couldn’t feel the rigidity in his arm or the tension in his shoulders where she paced next to him, purposely stepping too close.</p>
<p>She clutched her bag to her shoulder with a white-knuckled fist, her other arm coming up to cross her body. When a frantic student bowled past them in a hurry and knocked Katelyn right into Aarons side, she took three seconds too long to break the contact back to the casual brushing of their shoulders.</p>
<p>They left the building before either of them spoke.</p>
<p>“Do you actually want to get lunch?” She asked, voice sounding a little strange.</p>
<p>“Can’t,” Aaron forced out between his teeth.</p>
<p>Katelyn shot him a look and her dark eyes narrowed on him, “Why are you angry at me?”</p>
<p>“I’m not angry at you,” he grit out.</p>
<p>“Why are you angry then?”</p>
<p>“I’m not.”</p>
<p>“Do not insult my intelligence by lying to me, Aaron.”</p>
<p>Fine. Fucking <em>Fine.</em></p>
<p>“You should have told him to fuck off,” he rounded on her then, stopping them outside the building. </p>
<p>“Oh,” she said, stopping and crossing her arms. “So you’re pissed off because you were jealous, then?” </p>
<p>“No,” he snapped. “I’m pissed off because you should have shot him down clearly instead of using me as a decoy. Now he’s still gonna think he’s got a shot with you.”</p>
<p>“It’s not that simple.”</p>
<p>“It is,” Aaron shot back, “I could see your disinterest from four rows back. If he’s not getting the hint then you need to put him in his place or he’s just gonna-“</p>
<p><em>“You think I don’t know that?”</em> Katelyn hissed at him, voice dangerously low and eyes narrowed into slits. Her face was flushed and her chest was rising and falling heavily and Aaron finally got over himself enough to realize that she was <em>seething</em> with anger.</p>
<p><em>“Do you have any idea-?”</em> she hissed again, then pressed a hand over her eyes.</p>
<p>He shut the fuck up. </p>
<p>He stared at her, terrified that she might suddenly cry. Girls did that sometimes, didn’t they? Fuck, what the hell was he meant to do if she started crying?</p>
<p>She inhaled a deep breath, letting it out slowly and shakily before she looked at him, her eyes hard and her mouth pulled to a thin line.</p>
<p>Then she smiled, and it was the most awful smile Aaron had ever seen her wear.</p>
<p>“He knew I wasn’t interested, Aaron,” She said, voice mocking. “He just didn’t care. He invited himself into my space because, <em>‘It’s okay, sweetheart. Don’t be shy. It’s cute that you like all this medical stuff, I’m sure you’ll make a great nurse one day. I wouldn’t mind having you at my bedside’.</em>”</p>
<p>Katelyn clearly wasn’t done but Aaron was. </p>
<p>He wanted to find that fucking prick and punch him in the face, put a giant crack that white smile of his. How fucking <em>dare</em> he say that to Katelyn? It was a blatant disregard for her intelligence and ambitions and he deserved to choke on his own blood. </p>
<p>“You think that I wouldn’t have <em>loved</em> to rip that asshole a new one and let him know exactly what I thought of him? Do you think that I don’t have speeches in my head that I fantasize about saying out loud to those misogynistic creeps who think it’s okay to touch me just because I’m a cheerleader? Do you think that I would rather tolerate that than shoot them down?</p>
<p>“But I <em>can’t.</em> I <em>actually can’t</em>. Because guys like that look at women as possessions. Guys like that don’t take no for an answer. Guys like that are known to react viciously and often violently against women who hurt their precious egos.</p>
<p>“I am a woman, and that means that since I hit puberty at the age of twelve I’ve had to endure boys and men thinking it’s okay to look at me and touch me and invade my space and make obscene comments about my appearance, and I’m just supposed to smile and be grateful for the attention even though it kills me on the inside <em>every single fucking time.</em> I can’t run the risk that the guy I shoot down isn’t the kind of guy who is going to target me and assault me in retaliation.</p>
<p>“So yes, Aaron, I did use you as a decoy, and I’m sorry if that hurt your precious feelings but between pissing you off or pissing off that creep, you were by far the safer option.”</p>
<p>Aaron felt like he’d taken a hit to the solar plexus. His chest was squeezing and he was finding it difficult to breathe. </p>
<p>He unclenched the fists that were rigid at his sides, only for them to curl back up, hungry to hit something. He was going to break a tooth loose with the way he was clenching his jaw. His skin was thrumming with adrenalin and rage and he felt like he was gonna burst out of his skin. </p>
<p>Not <em>at Katelyn.</em> Never <em>at Katelyn.</em> But at every man who had ever put her in the position of feeling so unsafe that she had to tolerate their perversions just to keep them appeased. </p>
<p>He felt sick with the knowledge. He felt furious with her admission. He felt a twisted kind of relief that she clearly didn’t feel that kind of fear from <em>him.</em> </p>
<p>He wanted to make it better but there was nothing he could do to fix it, no way he could apologize for that.</p>
<p>So instead he grit his teeth and said, “You tell me if he bothers you again.”</p>
<p>It wasn’t a request.</p>
<p>“I don’t need you to save me, Aaron,” Katelyn snapped at him, and she was so glorious in her anger; the way her skin flushed and her mouth thinned and her eyes narrowed to burning pools of darkness. She looked like a warrior, about to storm into battle. Like there should be armour on her body and a katana in her hand.</p>
<p>She was so devastatingly beautiful, like it radiated from her very soul.</p>
<p>But she was still so goddamn <em>frustrating.</em></p>
<p>“I know you don’t,” he grit out in exasperation. “But you shouldn’t have to put up with that either.”</p>
<p>“No, I shouldn’t,” her voice was hard, chin lifted. “But the last thing I want to deal with right now is some macho-man bullshit that will achieve nothing but humiliating me. I’ll deal with it myself.”</p>
<p>Aaron cursed lowly, more like a growl than anything, pressing his palms into his eyes and feeling his contacts dig painfully into his retinas. A headache was coming. He was so wound up he felt moments away from bursting.</p>
<p>“Look, I’m sorry okay? I shouldn’t have got you involved. This isn’t your problem,” the righteous anger she’d had seemed to have burnt itself out. She sounded weary and drained, arms crossed over her chest and clutching at her shoulders. “It’s not a big deal, I’ll just-“</p>
<p>“Don’t you fucking dare. ”</p>
<p>“Don’t you swear at me,” she snapped, but there was a touch of something fragile in her voice that had Aaron pausing.</p>
<p>God, why were women so damn <em>complicated?</em></p>
<p>“You can’t-“ and he stopped and he shut his eyes and he inhaled and he willed himself to a semblance of calm. “You <em>can’t</em> just tell me all that and expect me not to be angry. You can’t tell me all that and then force me to the sidelines to watch you suffer. I can’t <em>do that.</em>”</p>
<p>“I won’t have you picking fights over me,” she said stubbornly. Infuriatingly. </p>
<p>He worked his jaw as he looked at her, trying to break her down but she wouldn’t budge. </p>
<p>He sighed, trying to let out all his anger, “If I promise not to pick any fights will you promise to tell me if someone makes you feel unsafe like that ever again?”</p>
<p>She stiffened. “I didn’t feel unsafe,” she defended.</p>
<p>“Don’t insult my intelligence by lying to me, Katelyn.”</p>
<p>She said nothing. Just let out an indignant huff.</p>
<p>“Fine,” she finally gave in under his glare.</p>
<p>“Any time, day or night, you tell me,” he pressed.</p>
<p>She sighed, “Fine.”</p>
<p>“Good,” he said firmly. Then, “You can use me as a decoy any time that you want.”</p>
<p>She let out a huff and a small little curl quirked at the side of her mouth and her shoulders kind of unwound a little and she let out a heavy breath.</p>
<p>“Thanks,” she said and then her mouth curled up to an almost smile and she looked at him with her beautiful and dark almond shaped eyes, gaze all soft and warm. </p>
<p>It made Aaron’s heart thump heavily and did something molten to his insides. </p>
<p>“You’re a good guy, Aaron,” she said, voice all low and intimate because she seemed hell-bent on destroying him.</p>
<p>Maybe he could have been, in another life.</p>
<p>She stepped into his space and Aaron’s brain just completely short-circuited and his breath got caught in his chest. </p>
<p>He could smell her perfume. It was something sweet and light, like honey and sunshine. He found himself leaning closer to follow it to its source and it was then that Katelyn hugged him.</p>
<p>She was taller than him so his head was in her neck and the warmth radiating off of her mixed with the feel of her delicate skin against his rough cheek made him full-body shiver.</p>
<p>Her arms were wrapped around his shoulders and her hair tickled down his neck and her chest was touching his and his heart was racing so fast he was sure she could feel it.</p>
<p>His hands hovered awkwardly at his sides, an aborted movement to wrap them securely around her waist and never let go making him tense from the restraint. </p>
<p>And the unfamiliarity. Aaron could count on one hand the amount of people in his life who had really, truly hugged him. Katelyn didn’t even make five.</p>
<p>She must have felt him tense, because she unlatched herself a moment later, stepping back out of his space and taking her warmth and her softness and her delicious smell with her.</p>
<p>“Sorry,” she said, suddenly sheepish. “I did mean- I wasn’t trying to…”</p>
<p>Her eyes were darting everywhere and her arms came back up in their defensive cross over her chest, head tilted down, red streak a curtain over part of her quickly flushing face.</p>
<p>“It’s okay,” he said because there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do to stop her from feeling so obviously uncomfortable and distressed.</p>
<p>She shook her head and she gave him a look that held him frozen to the spot.</p>
<p>“I’m really glad that you’re my friend,” she said, because she was obviously dead-set on making his destruction as agonizing as possible.</p>
<p>Aaron didn’t say anything because he didn’t have a voice anymore. She’d punched a fucking hole through his chest, ripped out his dark and rotten heart and held it so carefully in her beautiful, careful fingers. She was trying to resuscitate something that should have long been dead.</p>
<p>And it was <em>working.</em> It hurt so bad he couldn’t breathe.</p>
<p>He couldn’t tell if this was a dream or a cruel, twisted nightmare.</p>
<p>Aaron had endured a great many things in his life but this was almost unbearable.</p>
<p>He didn’t know what was on his face but there was obviously something there because Katelyn’s brow pinched and her lips twisted and she dropped his gaze and she looked <em>sad</em> and she looked <em>hurt</em> and Aaron would have given up anything to make that go away.</p>
<p>“I have to…” and she turned, giving Aaron a side profile of getting to watch her chest rise and fall harshly, her chin tilt upwards in that stubborn way, and her shoulders to straighten and her arms to drop.</p>
<p>He watched her walk away and he said nothing. He didn’t even move.</p>
<p>He couldn’t be friends with Katelyn Mun anymore.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>**</p>
<p>Katelyn was a fool. </p>
<p>The admission was something bitter and awful in her throat, making her lips pinch and curl in distaste, but there was no denying it. </p>
<p>Katelyn had fallen hard and fast for someone she’d known from the start was a bad idea and the only person she had to blame was herself. She was such a damn fool. </p>
<p>She couldn’t wipe that look from her mind, the way Aaron had stared at her after she’d basically thrown herself at him, like he couldn’t even comprehend who she was.</p>
<p>She was constantly crossing his lines when he’d done nothing but respect hers. </p>
<p>When had she become so pathetic? Was it because she was lonely, so far from home? She thought she had better control over herself than this. That she was smarter than this. </p>
<p>Oh god, just what would her oemma say if she knew Katelyn was all muddled up and distracted over a <em>guy?</em></p>
<p>A guy who didn’t even want her. Not in that way. </p>
<p>He just- wanted to protect her. Made her laugh, and brought her food. Prompted her to talk and watched her with unwavering attention as she connected dots and theorized and came up with conclusions. He never scorned her intelligence, nor tried to belittle her for it. He watched her like she was the only person in the room. He challenged her but he never tried to dominate her. He never treated her like she was fragile. He <em>listened</em> to her. </p>
<p>He got angry on her behalf and she’d seen that testosterone-fueled violence in his eye; her feminism was still seething at the thrill that had gone up her spine and travelled like a livewire down to her toes and into her chest from witnessing his unhesitating willingness to go into battle for her. </p>
<p>His gaze roamed over her body and it felt like a caress on her skin without him even touching her. A caress she welcomed. One she wanted more of. One she couldn’t have.</p>
<p>Whatever Aaron’s reasons, Katelyn couldn’t blame him for them. </p>
<p>No, the only person she could blame was herself and she was feeling rather maudlin in her self-pity, pillow clutched to her chest as she watched one of her favourite childhood movies, the family-sized bag of M&amp;M’s in her lap almost entirely gone.</p>
<p>She was also on her second glass of cheap and nasty wine.</p>
<p>Her phone lit up, vibrating on her dresser and she almost didn’t answer it but <em>‘Aaron Minyard’</em> flashed on the screen and her heart thudded in her chest painfully.</p>
<p>She almost dropped her phone in her haste to answer it.</p>
<p>“Hello?” she said tentatively.</p>
<p>“Kate,” he said, voice low and gravelly and activating those damn butterflies in her stomach.</p>
<p>She pinched herself on the arm and willed herself to stop being so stupid.</p>
<p>“Are you busy?” </p>
<p>She looked down at herself, kitten print pajamas with chocolate fingerprint smudges, her mama’s commandeered shawl thrown over her lap, “Not exactly.”</p>
<p>“Good, uh…” he cleared his throat. “Good.”</p>
<p>“Yeah,” she sighed. “I guess.”</p>
<p>“Are you okay? What’s wrong?”</p>
<p>“Nothing,” she laughed softly and without humour. “I’m just being stupid. Anyway, was there a reason you called or do you just miss hearing the sound of my voice?”</p>
<p>Silence met her on the other end.</p>
<p>“Sorry,” she squeezed her eyes shut. “I really need to stop saying things like that.”</p>
<p>“No,” he said. “No, you’re right.”</p>
<p>“I usually am,” she felt the smile tug at her lips despite herself. </p>
<p>“-I do miss the sound of your voice.” </p>
<p>Katelyn stopped breathing. </p>
<p>Time ticked slowly by, the slight fog in her head refusing to clear. She hadn’t heard right. She definitely hadn’t.</p>
<p>“What?” she croaked.</p>
<p>“You are my last thought before I fall asleep, and the first thing I think of in the morning.” </p>
<p>Oh. Wow.</p>
<p>“It’s really complicated, Katelyn. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to explain it to you.”</p>
<p>“Why?” she asked, voice unnaturally high and shallow. “You got someone waiting for you back home or something?”</p>
<p>“No,” he said immediately. “That wouldn’t be complicated.”</p>
<p>She frowned down at her mama’s shawl, picking at the fuzz stuck to the wool, “How would that not be complicated?”</p>
<p>“If I’d had someone back home I’d have dropped her in a heartbeat the moment I started having feelings for you.”</p>
<p>Oh, <em>God.</em></p>
<p>She bit her knuckle against the flutter in her chest.</p>
<p>“That’s harsh.”</p>
<p>“No one compares to you.”</p>
<p>
  <em>Holy fucking-</em>
</p>
<p>“You can’t just say things like that,” her voice cracked a little, her rawness bleeding through.</p>
<p>“I know,” he said. “I know I can’t, but I’m so weak.”</p>
<p>Music flared through the speaker, loud and cracking, only to disappear quickly.</p>
<p>“Where are you?” she asked.</p>
<p>“I’m in Columbia. At this club. Eden’s Twilight,” he said, and it was then that she noticed the slight loose edges to his words. “Heh, I used to work here.”</p>
<p>“Are you drinking?” she asked, her gut twisting a little. </p>
<p>“Yeah,” he sighed. Then there was a muffled sound, like a groan. She could imagine him running his hand over his face like he’d done so many times in her presence. </p>
<p>She swallowed, chest feeling heavy and tight. </p>
<p>“You shouldn’t have called,” she said. </p>
<p>“I know,” he admitted. “I tried not to. All fucking night, I tried not to. But all I can think about is you.”</p>
<p>Oh, that hurt. She shut her eyes against the sting. She pressed a hand against her mouth to swallow down whatever wanted to come out of it. </p>
<p>“I have to go,” he said, sounding miserable and drunk and a little bit fragile. </p>
<p>“Okay,” she said, her own voice withdrawn and shaky. </p>
<p>“I don’t want to,” he said. </p>
<p>She inhaled deep and clenched her eyes shut, “… okay.”</p>
<p>He said nothing for a bit, the sounds of movement and his low breathing the only indication that he was still there. </p>
<p>Then he said, “You deserve so much better than me.”</p>
<p>And that made her temper flare up. How dare he say such things, plucking at her heart-strings like that?</p>
<p>“You’re an asshole,” she said. And she meant it. </p>
<p>“Yeah,” he breathed. “I know. I know, and I won’t bother you anymore. Goodnight, Kate.”</p>
<p>She pressed a hand over her eyes and said, “Goodbye, Aaron.”</p>
<p>And then she hung up before he could and finally, <em>finally,</em> let herself cry. </p>
<p>Over him. Over the mess he was making of her head. Over the things he said and the things he refused to say. Over her poor heart that was aching in her chest.</p>
<p>This couldn’t continue. Something had to break.</p>
<p>Katelyn had the awful feeling that it was going to be her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>**</p>
<p>Aaron spent the whole weekend in Columbia feeling miserable and it didn’t go away when he finally sat down in the lecture hall and he got a glimpse of her. </p>
<p>It only made it worse. </p>
<p>Watching her walk to her seat and not even send a glance his way was like a punch to his solar plexus. </p>
<p>He remembered calling her. He remembered their conversation. He remembered the crack in her voice and the sigh of her breath and he remembered never wanting to get off the phone with her. </p>
<p>She was right, he should never have called. </p>
<p>He was hurting her. Because he was an asshole. </p>
<p>He had to let her go. </p>
<p>He didn’t speak to her ‘til Wednesday when they had to meet up at the library, and even then she barely had a word. </p>
<p>Her words weren’t stilted, she wasn’t angry. But she was withdrawn, barely smiling, barely meeting his gaze. </p>
<p>And Aaron? He let it be. Because as much as he wanted to fix this and make her smile again and sooth away her hurt, he couldn’t. He was the cause of it. It would only hurt more in the long run.</p>
<p>He had to let her go. </p>
<p>He had to let her go. </p>
<p><em>He had to let her go.</em> </p>
<p>It felt like ripping out stitches without cutting them first, just jagged angry lines over still-healing scars. It ached and it bled but he let her withdraw and he did nothing to stop it because he didn’t want to be cruel. Not anymore. </p>
<p>Some things in life just weren’t meant to be.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>**</p>
<p>To call things awkward between them would be a lie. Because for there to be awkwardness, they would actually have to acknowledge that something had happened. </p>
<p>Turns out, both were equally adept at pretending that the gravitational pull between them didn’t exist.</p>
<p>They sat at the same table, but didn’t speak. At least, not like they used to. There were no jokes. No smiles. No casual conversation or witty banter. There was no warmth in their eyes when their gazes crossed, or fondness in their voices with the few, brief words they did share. </p>
<p>Instead, it was just this heaviness that hung over them. </p>
<p>Oh, Katelyn was absolutely putting distance between them and she refused to let herself feel bad for it. Refused to let herself feel the ache because of it. She was justified, but she refused to be hurt. She’d had the weekend to vent her pain and now she was cool, calm and collected. In control.</p>
<p>At least Aaron had given her the courtesy of being just as distant. If she had been worried that he’d be apologetic, or beseeching or regretful, it took only a look at his solemn face to assure her that he wasn’t going to be paying her any lip-service. </p>
<p>It was fine. Better this way, actually. Katelyn couldn’t afford distractions, especially in the form of attractive assholes who did nothing but send her emotions into a chaotic spin. She didn’t have time to be thinking about stupid guys, she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. It was why god had invented vibrators, after all.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>**</p>
<p>“What’s up?” Ciara cornered her in their room, blocking the exit before Katelyn could leave.</p>
<p>“What do you mean?” she lied.</p>
<p>Ciara narrowed her dark eyes and pinned her with a look, “Don’t insult my intelligence as well as yours. What’s going on?”</p>
<p>Katelyn shrugged, “It’s nothing.”</p>
<p>“If it was nothing then you wouldn’t have butchered your tumble for the third time at practice. Don’t bullshit me and tell me it’s ‘nothing.’ Whatever it is, it’s affecting your cheers,” Ciara’s voice was cold and harsh. “Sort your shit out, Kate.”</p>
<p>Katelyn bristled, but she couldn’t deny what was the truth, as much as she’d tried.</p>
<p>“Yes Captain,” she said.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>**</p>
<p>They cheered at the Palmetto Foxes away game at Binghamton. Katelyn refused to look at Backliner number 5. </p>
<p>She lost count of how many times she failed.</p>
<p>The Foxes lost. Some of them came to the Vixens after party.</p>
<p>Aaron didn’t.</p>
<p>Katelyn didn’t care.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>**</p>
<p>They had regionals. </p>
<p>The Palmetto Vixens may cheer for the Palmetto sports teams, but that was really just practice for their own competitions. Months and months of strength training, core training, pilates, yoga, strict dieting and obsessive foot work. </p>
<p>Hours upon hours each day, every muscle in their body sore and pushed to its limits. Blood, sweat, tears. The same routine over and over and over until every single one of them could do the routine backwards and blindfolded. Until you couldn’t close your eyes without seeing orange and white moving bodies around you, jumping and spinning. Until the only thing you could hear in your mind was <em>Rihanna’s S&amp;M.</em></p>
<p>Everything they worked for; pushing themselves to the point of breaking; bailing on their families, their friends, lovers; letting assignments get behind and getting bailed out by Coach Reed; classes getting skipped; barely catching enough sleep; mental breakdowns and anxiety attacks; weekly sessions with Betsy Dobson, the university’s athletic psychiatrist;</p>
<p>Everything they did and it still wasn’t enough. They got placed, but it wasn’t even top three.</p>
<p>It was a kick in the gut for all of them, and Katelyn had no shame in admitting that she cried.</p>
<p>Her mama and oemma were so far away, but Michelle and Jenny curled around her like cats in their motel room and stroked her head and snuggled into her and distracted her with their pointless but easy chatter through their own messy emotions. </p>
<p>It took time, but eventually they all settled and fell into a deep and exhausted sleep.</p>
<p>And if, the next morning, Katelyn and Jenny spotted Kyle slipping out of Ciara’s room wearing last night’s clothes, well. Nobody mentioned it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>**</p>
<p>Aaron didn’t ask her about regionals. She wondered why she’d even thought that he would. He didn’t care. They weren’t <em>friends</em> and certainly nothing more. Not anymore. She was disappointed in herself for even thinking that he would. </p>
<p>It was stupid. She was stupid. She was feeling raw and vulnerable and his apathy was grating on her so bad she could barely stand it. </p>
<p>Why did they continue to share a table? Their assignment was over, had been over for two weeks, and yet the asshole still continued to invade her presence, her space. He sat there in his distance and his apathy but he wouldn’t do her the courtesy of physically leaving.</p>
<p>She couldn’t deal with him right now. She never wanted to have to deal with him again.</p>
<p><em>Lies,</em> that inner voice told her. </p>
<p>“Why are you being such a cunt?” </p>
<p>He gaped up at her, like he couldn’t believe the words out of her mouth. “What?”</p>
<p>To be fair, she was almost never that crass. </p>
<p>Oh, god. she knew that feeling. It was hot up her throat and it burned at her eyes and it was clenching a fist in her chest. </p>
<p>No. </p>
<p>No, no, <em>no.</em> She had to get out of there. Now, before she completely and utterly embarrassed herself. </p>
<p>Her hands were trembling and her breath was sharp and she fisted her books and laptop to her chest and stormed away without another word.</p>
<p>She wasn’t going to make it back to the dorm, but she at least tried to make it to the bathrooms.</p>
<p>He caught her by the arm before she managed to find solitude, warm, calloused fingers tugging gently on her elbow and causing her to turn. </p>
<p>She wanted to fight it. She did. But she could barely hold herself together. </p>
<p>“Kate,” his voice was soft. Concerned. He hadn’t spoken to her like that in <em>so</em> long. It <em>hurt.</em></p>
<p>She didn’t look at him. Her gaze stuck to the floor. </p>
<p>“Kate. What’s wrong?” the concern grew, his voice sounding slightly panicked. “Are you crying?”</p>
<p>
  <em>Damn.</em>
</p>
<p>She squeezed her eyes shut. Her throat was tight. She felt pathetic and weak. Vulnerable. God, she hated feeling vulnerable.</p>
<p>“Go,” her voice was hoarse. She still wouldn’t look at him. Still wouldn’t turn her head. “It’s not your problem. Don’t act like you care.”</p>
<p>His hand clenched on her arm. It almost hurt, but he released the pressure immediately. </p>
<p>He stepped closer, warmth radiating off his skin. He bit the words out between his teeth, low, almost a growl, “You know that I care.”</p>
<p>Her breath shuddered, hurting all the way in, catching in her chest. </p>
<p>She turned her head and she looked at him and she lost it all when she finally met his eyes. </p>
<p>His dark eyes, swirling and wild. His body shaking and tense, his jaw clenched so tight she could hear it grinding. He looked tormented. Haunted. A little bit broken. It hooked into her chest in a way that felt like betrayal.</p>
<p>She kissed him, then. Right there in that corridor, outside the bathrooms.</p>
<p>She waited for him to push her away. She braced for it, her own self-pity eagerly anticipating it. Justification for her own misery.</p>
<p>She waited for it, but he didn’t. </p>
<p>Her soft and glossed lips were pressed against chapped and stubble-lined ones, warm breath mingling between them.</p>
<p>She moved her mouth, his bottom lip falling in between her own and then something in him must have snapped. </p>
<p>A sound -sharp and ragged like an exhale, vulnerable and unchecked like a whimper, somehow neither but almost a mixture of both- escaped out of his mouth and into the breath between them. </p>
<p>And then he was kissing her back.</p>
<p>She almost tripped over her shuffling feet as the wall gently met her spine. He kept one hand on her elbow as he crowded her, the other grasping the back of her neck and tugging her downwards, so he could reach her mouth. </p>
<p>It was so strange, to be the taller one, but she quickly lost any thought of that when he deepened the kiss and did things with his tongue that made her knees go weak.</p>
<p>When he tugged her bottom lip between his teeth gently the only thing she could feel from her body was trembles and tingles, almost unbearable down to her toes. Oversensitive and under-touched. </p>
<p>Aaron snatched at the books and laptop she hadn’t even realized she was dropping, the action finally startling some sense into both of them. </p>
<p>Just maybe not the kind of sense that you’d think.</p>
<p>Hazel was almost swallowed by black, only a dark ring of colour visible. His breaths were coming quickly, and Katelyn was struggling to capture her own. </p>
<p>They were so close, just a few books and clothing between them, caught in their own little bubble barely out of sight of the rest of the library. It was surprising that no one had stumbled upon them.</p>
<p>Or maybe they had and it was just that neither of them had noticed.</p>
<p>“Kate,” it was so breathless, like it had spilled from his mouth without permission. She didn’t want him to ruin it.</p>
<p>“Shhh,” she whispered, fingers still clenched on his powerful shoulder, feeling the way the muscles rippled and tensed. “Make me feel better.”</p>
<p>He swallowed so loud that she heard it. Then he finally put her out of her misery with a devastatingly ardent, “Yep.”</p>
<p>They didn’t talk much after that. </p>
<p>Katelyn dismissed the bathroom and found the maintenance room unlocked, filled with old and dusty books in states of disrepair, the room dark and musty and stinking of old tomes and moth-eaten pages. </p>
<p>There wasn’t a lock, but Aaron jammed an old and broken copier in front of the door to at least give them warning of an intrusion.</p>
<p>It was forbidden and reckless, Katelyn’s adrenaline thrumming high. </p>
<p>It was hardly the first time Katelyn had snuck off to hook up in a barely private place. She’d lost her virginity on the back of a parked car, had her first experience of oral sex at midnight in an abandoned playground down the street from her childhood home. It was a reckless thrum under her skin that only flying ever gave her and she relished in the rebelliousness of it. </p>
<p>Then he kissed her again and her pulse was pounding for an entirely different reason. </p>
<p>He was careful where he placed his hands, and that absolutely would not do. She took his lip between her teeth and his hand between her fingers and slid the digits up between the tender skin of her inner thigh and the cheeky gap in her denim shorts.</p>
<p>His eyes widened and his breath left him in a rush and he swallowed deeply when she growled low in his ear, “I ain’t no fucking lady, Aaron Minyard. Stop trying to be a gentleman.”</p>
<p>He didn’t hesitate after that. </p>
<p>He had short but nimble fingers. In no time at all he figured out which buttons to press and how slowly or quickly to press them.</p>
<p>Her shorts never came off, he just worked around their restriction. It was utterly thrilling. </p>
<p>Katelyn twisted her hips and ground down against him and he followed her direction without hesitation. </p>
<p>Her peak climbed slowly but steadily. Her breath was hot and her groans were hoarse. She couldn’t help but cry out when he slipped her nipple into his mouth and she didn’t even have the presence of mind to wonder how he’d managed to gain access to it. </p>
<p>Her fingernails dug into his back. Her hands fisted into his shirt. She tugged on his dirty blond strands ruthlessly. His own heady sounds let her know he enjoyed every moment of it.</p>
<p>She fell over the edge like she hadn’t even felt it building, deep and intense and shuddering. Wave after wave crashing through her, making her trembly and weak.</p>
<p>Aaron slowed his hand and she slowed her own hips and he only stopped when she stopped. </p>
<p>He removed his hand and she exhaled a sigh and then his hands rubbed up her back, from her hips to her shoulder blades, fingers splayed and open. </p>
<p>Her back arched at the warm, soothing touch, their chests pressing together. </p>
<p>The afterglow faded and so did that magic around them. </p>
<p>They stank of sex. Of each other. Of dust and grime and stale, carbon-heavy air. </p>
<p>Katelyn could feel the cramp in her legs from their position at the wall. She could feel the uncomfortable wetness of her underwear. She could feel her left breast still exposed to the air. </p>
<p>She could feel Aaron still clinging to her, his breath hot on her neck and his sweat drying on her skin.</p>
<p>She unlatched her fingers that were still buried in his hair, digits aching from her tight grip. She nudged him back and he finally let go, hands trailing over her hips as he leaned back. </p>
<p>He looked thoroughly ravished. Eyes half lidded and lazy, hair standing in every direction, shirt half dragged up his body and stretched in places, sweat dripping down his neck, heat radiating from him like he was a space-heater. </p>
<p>It was a good look.</p>
<p>She cleared her throat, trying to gather her thoughts, preparing herself for the next part. </p>
<p>“Do you have a condom?” she asked, voice cracking partway through from use.</p>
<p>He grunted, blinking, brows furrowing slightly, “….no?”</p>
<p>Katelyn pressed her lips together before speaking. She felt that trepidation tick up under her skin. It was old paranoia, but usually she’d had these conversations, made her stance on the matter perfectly clear before engaging in sex. </p>
<p>“I won’t give you head without a condom.”</p>
<p>She steeled herself. Most men felt themselves entitled. It was social conditioning. </p>
<p>Girls were condemned and scorned if they didn’t want to reciprocate, considered cruel to leave a man in such a state. Oh, especially if the guy had gotten her off first. Then they were selfish. </p>
<p>It was surprising, how many men you would think were kind and sweet but, when it came to the bedroom, could be as manipulating and guilt-tripping as any asshole. </p>
<p>Men were entitled to their orgasms, where women were just lucky to get one.</p>
<p>“Uh, what?” he cleared his throat. “Okay, yeah. That’s fine. I’m… good.”</p>
<p>She exhaled a little, feeling relief, but the fight she’d been preparing for still made her tense. </p>
<p>She pressed her hand to the muscles of his stomach, felt them clench beneath her fingers. Scraped her nails lightly over the flesh of his happy trail, heard the sharp intake of his breath.</p>
<p>Then he grabbed her hand firmly with his own and stopped all her progress. </p>
<p>She looked up at him in surprise and he was shaking his head, jaw clenched, eyes darting. Looking anywhere but directly at her own.</p>
<p>“It’s all good. I’m good. ”</p>
<p>“You don’t want…?” then she looked down and then she understood.</p>
<p>“Did you nut in your jeans?” she couldn’t mask her surprise.</p>
<p>“Shut up,” he growled at her, dropping her hand like it burned.</p>
<p>“Oh, um… ” she fumbled. </p>
<p>“It’s been awhile, alright?” he snapped defensively and she realized that he was <em>ashamed.</em></p>
<p>Male egos could be such fragile things. Katelyn often enjoyed popping them when it was deserved. Aaron didn’t deserve it, though. </p>
<p>“Don’t,” she said, tugging him closer. </p>
<p>He resisted, staunch and tense where he stood. Unmovable.</p>
<p>“Don’t do that,” she insisted. </p>
<p>His face was back to a scowl and his eyes were narrowed like he was expecting her to mock him. </p>
<p>“Hey,” she said. “I don’t mind. I don’t care.”</p>
<p>His jaw was clenched and he said nothing. </p>
<p>“It’s kind of cute, actually,” she said, leaning a little bit closer, smiling a little. “You getting off on getting me off. There’s no need to be a dick about it.”</p>
<p>He scowled harder. Then he sighed and ran a hand up over his face, through his hair. “It’s your fault,” he mumbled. </p>
<p>“Sure.”</p>
<p>“You were grinding on me,” he accused. “Making those sexy as fuck noises. It’s your fault.”</p>
<p>“Well,” she said, barely able to hold back on her smile. “To be fair, that was <em>your</em> fault.”</p>
<p>He shot her a glare but it lacked all the heat and Katelyn thought that she might like to kiss him again. So she did. </p>
<p>He resisted a little. And then he didn’t. And then she felt a laugh building in her chest and she couldn’t quite hold it in. </p>
<p>Aaron was less than impressed. </p>
<p>“How are you gonna get back to the dorms?” she whispered, her tone betraying her amusement. </p>
<p>He looked at her then his face fell as realization dawned. </p>
<p>
  <em>“Fuck.”</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Katelyn Mun was her own track playing on repeat inside Aaron’s mind. </p>
<p>Every time he closed his eyes the image of her pressed against the wall - all flushed with heavy lids and kiss-swollen lips- assaulted his senses to the point where he could swear he still <em>felt</em> her. </p>
<p>Every little sound she made was his new favourite song. The taste of her mouth was his new favourite flavour. </p>
<p>Aaron was an addict, he knew the signs; Katelyn was a drug swimming merrily through his veins, sending him higher than the clouds. </p>
<p>One taste was never going to be enough. </p>
<p>His walk of shame had felt like an eternity. For once in his life he was pleased with his lack of height because it meant that his hoodie sat low to his thighs. </p>
<p>It had been a very uncomfortable walk. </p>
<p>But the memory? Oh, that had been worth every second. He’d used that as a play-by-play as he’d showered, his libido coming to life with a vengeance. Even the vivid memory of his own humiliation did nothing to diminish Katelyn in all of her blissed-out glory. </p>
<p>They hadn’t talked about it after. There hadn’t really been time. The lusty haze that had surrounded them had disappeared and then there had been a very real chance that they’d be spotted. </p>
<p>And Aaron had been extremely uncomfortable in his then-soiled jeans. </p>
<p>Should he text her? He felt like he should. Or call her or something. It felt owed in the very least, like a courtesy. </p>
<p>At the most, though; he just fucking wanted to. He wanted to hear her voice, her laugh. He wanted to see her smile again. He wanted to be the cause of that smile. </p>
<p>But she’d been angry with him. Hurt <em>by</em> him and he had no idea where he stood now. </p>
<p>What if she regretted it? What if he’d taken advantage? Yes, she’d been entirely in control (and yes, that had turned him on like crazy) but that had been in the moment and in that moment she’d been seeking comfort. Maybe he should have said no. </p>
<p>But, oh <em>fuck</em>, was he so done with saying no to Katelyn. He couldn’t do it anymore. He wasn’t strong enough. </p>
<p>Despite the risk, he went there anyway. Resisting Katelyn was one of the hardest things he’d had to do, and it just made him resent Andrew more. </p>
<p>More than just the fact that he’d murdered their mother. </p>
<p>Oh, but that was a slippery fucking hole that Aaron didn’t want to dive down into. That was a whole other level of fucked. He’d compartmentalized that to a box in his mind, buried beneath all the other shit to fester and rot whilst he endured. </p>
<p>But how could that affect Katelyn? The <em>risk… </em></p>
<p>Maybe he was feeling a little regret. </p>
<p>He didn’t text her. He couldn’t. What could he even say? He wasn’t meant to be encouraging this, but that was all he wanted to do. </p>
<p>The thought of having to cut her out burned like a knife in his chest. He pressed his hand to his ribs to try to put pressure on the wound. It didn’t help. </p>
<p>She didn’t text him either. It was impossible to tell if that was a good thing.</p>
<p>Then he spotted her the next day, all made up in white and orange in that tiny little skirt and skin tight barely-could-be-considered-a-shirt-and-was-more-like-a-glorified-bra-that-Aaron-both-appreciated-and-loathed, pom-poms in hand and smile plastered to her face in a gathering of three other cheerleaders, all trying to rally enthusiasm from the students for the football team’s final game that night.</p>
<p>When he saw her surrounded by her friends and joking with students that inner bitterness in him crawled to the surface and he wondered if he could expect a new round of posters to line Fox Tower’s walls. </p>
<p>Maybe all this was just some kind of well-crafted revenge plot. Or maybe he’d just imagined the whole thing, his brain finally cracked and inventing things that weren’t even there. Some mental disorders could be genetic and his mother and his twin were hardly pinnacles of stable mental health. Quite the opposite, in fact. Aaron wouldn’t count himself lucky enough to get away Scot-free. </p>
<p>Honestly, it was half the reason his mouth remained latched every time he was forced to step foot into Betsy Dobson’s office. Andrew was clear evidence that psychiatrists were a bunch of mumbo-jumbo bullshit anyway. Aaron didn’t need one telling him things he had absolutely no desire to hear.</p>
<p>Aaron hadn’t realized that he had stopped, standing beside a rather grotesque statue designed by the sculpture club that was almost as old as the school itself.  </p>
<p>He watched as she smiled and laughed and shook her pom-poms and hollered at passersby and wiggled her skirt and called out to students that she knew by name, urging them to come to the game that night. </p>
<p>Then her eyes suddenly latched on to him like she’d felt him watching and the smile slowly leached from her face.</p>
<p>It was probably only a moment but it felt like an eternity. Then one of the other cheerleaders spotted Katelyn’s distraction and nudged her, causing Katelyn to break their contact immediately, smile crawling back up her face but not as care-free as it had been before. </p>
<p>Aaron dodged behind the sculpture before he could be spotted by the other Vixens, cursing himself internally. </p>
<p>Yeah. Yeah, he was pretty sure that he’d fucked up, judging by that look on her face. </p>
<p>Dread settled like a heavy pit in his gut, only to intensify to a writhing nausea at the message he’d received 23 minutes later:</p>
<p>
  <em>Katelyn Mun: hey, can we talk?</em>
</p>
<p>When girls wanted to talk, it was rarely a good thing. He owed her that, though. </p>
<p>He didn’t have time to see her, having an afternoon crammed with study group, and meeting his tutor for an hour, and afternoon practice that they still had to do despite the fact that they’d already been knocked out of the championship’s weeks ago. And then he had to go to Columbia and Eden’s, which he absolutely did not have time for because <em>fucking hell, finals started next week which he was absolutely not ready for and-</em></p>
<p>But he had to see Katelyn.</p>
<p>His tutoring hour ended at 8pm and, if he was fast enough, he could race back to the dorms and get himself ready to go out then meet her somewhere…</p>
<p>Fuck. The game. Kick off started at 7pm and Katelyn wouldn’t be out of there until at least after 9pm and by then Aaron would already be on his way to Columbia… <em>shit.</em></p>
<p>The last time Aaron had set foot in a football stadium had been highschool and he wasn’t exactly thrilled to be having to do it again. Columbia High’s football players were the exact cliché kind that Aaron despised and forcing himself into Palmetto’s stadium had him grinding his teeth.</p>
<p>What was worse was that he’d actually had to buy a fucking ticket, as if he had any desire to watch the damn game.</p>
<p>All so Katelyn Mun could tell him he was a piece of shit who’d taken advantage of her and that if she ever caught him looking at her ever again she’d castrate him without any anesthetic… Oh yeah, this was going to be fucking swell.</p>
<p>He found a seat close to the entrance with a piss-poor view of both the game and the cheerleaders, but at least that meant he was also away from all of the enthusiastic fans. The Vixens were on the field for the whole game, but Katelyn had assured him she could get away after half-time, when the crowd was more focused on the game than the cheerleaders.</p>
<p>Aaron sent a message to her when he arrived, knowing she probably wouldn’t even have her phone on her but not knowing how else to communicate his presence without yelling at her through the fence and making a scene that neither of them wanted to deal with. </p>
<p>Katelyn had already made it clear that she didn’t want her cheerleader friends knowing about their… association. He wasn’t about to force that on her now.</p>
<p>
  <em>20:04 Katelyn Mun: Can you make it to emergency exit 1D? I’ll be there in 5 </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>20:05 Aaron Minyard: Yep</em>
</p>
<p>The door was blocked, predictably. A security guard stood near the exit, watching the game with a bored expression. </p>
<p>Then he spotted Aaron and his gaze narrowed. Aaron felt that same sense of bitterness he always felt when people looked at him with that judgmental look, immediately singling him out as trouble, even despite his branded jeans, combat boots, and ironed button-down. They could always pick him out as gutter-trash.</p>
<p>“Aaron, I presume?” the guy said, puffing away on what looked to be a nicotine vaporizer, despite the fact that those were also banned alongside cigarettes at the stadiums.</p>
<p>Aaron paused. Then nodded, “Yeah.”</p>
<p>The guy gave him another once over before scoffing to himself muttering, “Figures.”</p>
<p>Aaron’s eyes narrowed. He was about to ask the asshole just what in the hell that was supposed to mean, when the door cracked open and Katelyn peered out and Aaron forgot about the guy completely.</p>
<p>“C’mon,” she said, waving him in and Aaron couldn’t do anything but follow.</p>
<p>“Thanks James,” she leaned out quickly to speak to the security guard.</p>
<p>“No idea what you’re talking about, sweetheart,” he drawled before Katelyn shut the door on him.</p>
<p>It was so much warmer inside than out, the air-conditioning obviously not reaching this far down the corridors, being at the further and more secluded end of the stadium. Aaron could feel sweat already forming on the skin of his back and neck.</p>
<p>“This way,” she said, voice hushed. </p>
<p>She led him down a hall and then another, Aaron’s eyes falling over the swing of her dark ponytail, the darkened stain of sweat on the back of her can’t-really-be-considered-a-top top, the sway of her hips and the swish of that tiny little skirt brushing against the exposed flesh of her thighs.</p>
<p>Fuck, but she even had excellent calves. A strong and elegant curve from the seam of her knee to the tendons in her ankles, all powerful and firm yet looking smooth to the touch and-</p>
<p>Fuck.<em> Stop it.</em> The last thing he should be doing right now is lusting after Katelyn and her sensational legs like a horny fucking pervert. That’s not what he was here for.</p>
<p>Though he couldn’t deny that this would be a particular fantasy… No.</p>
<p>He pulled out his phone to check the time and to force himself to get a grip. He didn’t have long, maybe 20 minutes before he had to make it back to the dorms. He once again asked himself why he was putting himself through this, but it was a pointless thing to wonder because he knew exactly why. </p>
<p>He wondered if he had a limit on the things he would endure for Katelyn. If there was anything she could ask him to do for her that he wouldn’t be willing. It didn’t matter, really. He wouldn’t get a chance to find out. </p>
<p>“Aaron?” she sounded tentative, paused in front of a door.</p>
<p>His eyes immediately snapped to hers, and hers dropped to the phone in his hand.</p>
<p>He put his phone away.</p>
<p>She bit her lip.</p>
<p>“This okay?” she asked, cracking open the door.</p>
<p>“Yeah,” he shrugged, voice low as not to carry. “Whatever.”</p>
<p>She nodded and slipped inside and Aaron followed her into the dimly lit room. It was set up like a second interview area, or maybe a meeting room for recruiters to discuss contracts with potential players. It didn’t really matter.</p>
<p>Katelyn shut the door after him and leaned against it, hands tucked away behind her back.</p>
<p>She inhaled and said, “Thanks for coming,”</p>
<p>He shrugged, stuffing his hands in his denim pockets and forcing his gaze around the room so that he wouldn’t be staring at her too much.</p>
<p>“Sorry, I know you’re busy. I didn’t mean to interrupt your plans,” she spoke quickly, and sent him a smile that was painful to look at. “You look good. Hot date?”</p>
<p>He stared at her, eyes narrowing. She was nervous. She was rambling because he was making her nervous. </p>
<p>“Sorry,” she said, pressing her hands over her face and letting out what sounded like a frustrated breath. “Sorry, that’s none of my business.”</p>
<p>“Just say it,” he said, because he didn’t want to watch her fumble all over herself to be kind. Honestly he’d rather her just yell at him. Or tell him to fuck off. It was painful watching her be so uncomfortable with his presence.</p>
<p>“Yeah,” she said, swallowing. “Okay. You’re obviously busy, so…” and then her nails started digging into her left wrist, scratching roughly.</p>
<p>He wanted to stop her. She did that when she felt anxious, and he could already see the angry red of swollen skin under her relentless nails.</p>
<p>“Stop it, Kate,” he said. “You’re hurting yourself.”</p>
<p>Her hands dropped immediately and instead she clenched her fists.</p>
<p>“I need to apologize,” she started. “I’m sorry, Aaron. I’m really, really sorry.”</p>
<p>He froze at her words, a creeping dread fighting the heat on his skin and turning his insides to cold.</p>
<p>“What for?” he asked, voice deadened, because he didn’t even want to think- if Katelyn felt this bad, then it must have been <em>bad.</em></p>
<p>Maybe he had been right earlier. Maybe his bitter and self-depreciating thoughts had been onto something and maybe Katelyn had really just been playing him the whole time.</p>
<p>Or maybe she’d said something to the members of her team and he’d have more creative and glittery repercussions to deal with, or maybe she’d told the guys how he’d taken advantage and he was lined up to get his ass handed to him.</p>
<p>Maybe that’s what this was, right now. She’d pulled him off to a secluded room with only one exit and in a moment a group of pissed off Vixens were about to storm into the space and deliver justice. </p>
<p>She was blocking the exit, after all.</p>
<p>Katelyn… she wouldn’t do that. He <em>knew</em> that. But he couldn’t think of any possible reason for her to owe him an apology, so his ever torturous mind was plaguing him with morbid scenarios.</p>
<p>She was talking. Her mouth was moving. He watched the way it formed around words, recognized the syllables and the consonants, but nothing that came out of her mouth made any kind of sense. He was half convinced she was speaking Korean, her words fast and a little jumbled, except the fact that all of the words made perfect sense asides from the fact that all of those words put together made absolutely no fucking sense.</p>
<p>“Wait,” he said, holding up a hand and <em>extremely</em> fucking confused here. “Stop, stop. What?”</p>
<p>Katelyn stopped and <em>oh, fuck,</em> but she looked like she was on the verge of tears. Fucking hell.</p>
<p>“Katelyn,” he spoke slowly and took a step closer, hands splayed to the side in a way one used when trying not to spook an animal. “Breathe. Just give me a second, okay?”</p>
<p>She nodded.</p>
<p>He let out a sigh and looked at her, shaking his head, “Katelyn Mun, you are so fucking smart sometimes it blows me away, but I cant even figure out how you could think- <em>shit,</em> Kate, don’t you even realize-?”</p>
<p>He ran his hands up his face because looking at her was making his heart pound like a fucking jackhammer and his skin was absolutely <em>buzzing</em> with adrenaline. He exhaled and then he looked at her because he wanted to make sure that she knew that everything he said was 100% truth.</p>
<p>“Katelyn, you dragged me off to an abandoned room in the middle of the library and let me finger you into an orgasm,” he said bluntly, voice filled with disbelief and awe at the memory of it. “Do you not realize that you invited me along to an epic fantasy that has not stopped replaying in my mind since? Don’t <em>–do not ever-</em> apologize for that because that’s probably the highlight of my goddamn life.”</p>
<p>She stared at him. Her brow was pinched and her eyes were narrowed. </p>
<p>She crossed her arms across her chest and said, voice so skeptical it was barely a question, “Really?”</p>
<p>“Really,” he nodded, still in a state of shock and feeling a sense of surrealism. This. This couldn’t be real. </p>
<p>“You’re not mad?” she pressed. </p>
<p>“Are you crazy?” He scoffed, but it came out sounding more like a laugh. “No, of course I’m not fucking mad-“</p>
<p>“-Don’t swear at me”</p>
<p>“Sorry. It’s just…  honored. Thrilled. Unworthy, yeah. But mad? No way in hell.”</p>
<p>She bit her lip, turning her head to the side and looking at the floor. </p>
<p>“I used you,” she admitted.</p>
<p>“Yeah, okay. So?”</p>
<p>She said nothing, but she did look at him again. She worried her lip like she was concerned and Aaron felt something heavy lift from his chest so thoroughly he felt like he could fucking fly. </p>
<p>“Holy shit,” he breathed. “Is that—is this really why you asked me here? To <em>apologize?</em> I can’t even- Holy shit.”</p>
<p>Her brow furrowed in clear confusion, “Why else would I ask you here?”</p>
<p>Oh fuck, he was smiling. It felt so foreign but <em>so good. </em></p>
<p>“Are you serious? I was expecting you to yell at me, to scold me for taking advantage and to tell me you never wanted to see me again.” He ran his hands through his gelled hair and gaped at her, “I mean, Jesus Katelyn. I was half convinced you’d lured me here to get my ass kicked by a bunch of vengeful Vixens.”</p>
<p>“What? No. How could you even think that?”</p>
<p>“Maybe I thought I deserved it.”</p>
<p>She gave him a pointed look, “I threw myself at you, that could hardly be considered <em>your</em> fault.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, maybe,” he conceded. “But you were clearly upset. I should have known better.”</p>
<p>“You can’t be blamed for my actions.”</p>
<p>“No. But I can be blamed for mine.”</p>
<p>“Well,” she said, uncrossing her arms and standing a little straighter. “I don’t blame you, so there’s that.”</p>
<p>“Yeah,“ he breathed, that lightness in his chest still causing his mouth to curl upwards. “There’s that.”</p>
<p>There was too much space between them, too much distance in every sense of the word. Aaron found his steps moving him closer and he had no control to stop it. </p>
<p>“Did you really think I’d brought you here to get your ass kicked?” she whispered when he was less than a foot away. </p>
<p>“Yeah,” he said, but he was far more distracted by looking at her mouth and the way it moved, pink lips puckering and stretching. </p>
<p>She smelled like a mix cooling sweat and deodorant. It was fucking intoxicating. </p>
<p>“Then why did you come?” she asked, voice sounding a little breathless. </p>
<p>Oh fuck, Aaron really hoped he was the cause of her sounding like that. </p>
<p>“Because you asked me to,” he said, because it was the truth. </p>
<p>She met his gaze steadily and something in him cracked so thoroughly when he saw the look of pain that crossed her face. </p>
<p>“You need to stop saying things like that,” it was barely more than a breath. He would have missed it if he hadn’t been so close. </p>
<p>“Yeah,” he said, just as low, voice gravelly from her proximity alone. </p>
<p>And then he kissed her. Like a starving man. </p>
<p>Nothing in the world tasted better than Katelyn. </p>
<p>She hummed against his lips and he chased the sound into her mouth, curling his tongue around hers. </p>
<p>Her knees went weak, he felt when it happened, and he slipped his hands around her thin hips to hold her grounded and steady. </p>
<p>Her fingers curled into his hair, the others slipping up the back of his shirt and over his bare skin. Her nails dug in and <em>scraped</em> and Aaron was assaulted by the intensity of his yearning for her.</p>
<p>He didn’t crowd her against the door, he practically squashed her against it, every part of him wanting every part of her and – God, he was so gone. </p>
<p>How had he ever thought he could ever stand a chance of resisting her?</p>
<p>She made a sound that echoed in his mouth like a vibration and Aaron was immediately thrown back into that abandoned library room, watching her come undone under his fingers. </p>
<p>Had it really been less than a week? It felt like forever. </p>
<p>Too long. He wanted to do it again. </p>
<p>He wouldn’t even care if he’d nut in his jeans again, which was a very high possibility if she kept pressing into him the way that she was.</p>
<p>But life was rarely kind to Aaron Minyard and they had a clock ticking over their heads. </p>
<p>Katelyn pulled back first and Aaron had to fight the urge to follow her. Or maybe he’d failed, if the hands on his chest to hold him back were any indication. </p>
<p>He rested his forehead on her collarbone and told himself to breathe despite the urge that surged in him just to take her mouth again. Honestly, fuck breathing if this was the alternative. </p>
<p>His arms snaked around her slim waist, crossing over at her back and holding her tight. </p>
<p>“I have to go back,” she said, mouth pressed against his hair. </p>
<p>His hold tightened despite the truth of it. </p>
<p>“Aaron,” she said, in that tone she got when she was serious. </p>
<p>“Just give me a sec,” he said into the warmth of her skin, pressing a kiss there because he couldn’t help himself. He wanted to explore every inch of her skin. </p>
<p>Being pressed up against her really wasn’t helping his dilemma. </p>
<p>She stroked his hair and he breathed in her scent and it was so fucking grand just getting to hold her and be held <em>by</em> her. </p>
<p>His phone buzzed in his pocket, loud in the otherwise silent room. </p>
<p>She nudged him back then, like she knew it was his cue to go. Her dark eyes searched him as he finally stepped back. It was a whole lot less warm without the feel of her against him. </p>
<p>He adjusted his jeans and he felt her eyes watching him as he checked his phone and let out a small curse at both the time and Nicky’s pestering. He was late. </p>
<p>“For the record… ” he said, and he made no secret of the way his gaze stroked down her and her tiny little uniform, appreciating everything. </p>
<p>He swallowed, “You can use me <em>anytime</em> that you want to.”</p>
<p>She met his gaze and those gorgeous lips of hers pulled up at the corners. It did something crazy to his insides that had him wanting to drop to his knees right there before her. </p>
<p>“That right, Minyard?” </p>
<p>“Absolutely,” he assured, far too quickly. </p>
<p>She watched him. He heard the door handle turn at her back, the creak of the hinges as it slowly opened, letting in air he hadn’t realized he’d been missing. </p>
<p>She watched him and that mouth of hers stayed smiling and Aaron had never seen a more beautiful sight. </p>
<p>“I’ll see you around then, Aaron.”</p>
<p>“Yeah,“ he breathed, unable to comprehend just how damn good it felt to hear his name come out of her mouth. Especially when she said it like <em>that.</em> </p>
<p>Then she disappeared, like a pleasant dream or a favourite memory. Aaron had to linger a moment just to remember how to get out of that room. </p>
<p>And then wonder how the hell he was meant to get out of the stadium again. </p>
<p>Still, it was hands down the best football game he had ever been to. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>** </p>
<p>Katelyn had only just slipped off her heels and discarded her clothing in her dorm when her phone rang. </p>
<p>It was late, but not ridiculously so. The after party for the football team’s win would still be in full swing, Katelyn having bowed out early due to… understandable distractions. </p>
<p>God, and what a distraction it was. </p>
<p>Said distraction’s name flashed over her screen, causing goosebumps to breakout on her skin despite the warm weather. </p>
<p>“Hey,” she answered immediately, her voice sounding breathless and ridiculous. </p>
<p>Her stomach would not stop fluttering. Her hand was shaking a little. </p>
<p>“Katelyn,” he said, voice all low and gravelly and feeling like it caressed every inch of her bared skin. </p>
<p>She was only standing in her underwear. She wondered if she should tell him. </p>
<p>“Aaron,” she smiled, feeling stupidly giddy. </p>
<p>There was a noise on his end of the line, the sound of heavy bass, and then it went quiet. </p>
<p>“Are you busy?” he asked, tone warm. </p>
<p>“No,” she said, digging her toes into the rug, feeling a little bold. “You just caught me undressing.”</p>
<p>There was a noise on the other end, maybe a choke and a broken off curse. </p>
<p>No one had to know how she grinned at that. </p>
<p>“Okay, uh,” he cleared his throat. “Go on.”</p>
<p>“Did you really just call me up to hear about my underwear?“ she teased. </p>
<p>Something ruffled. Like clothing. There was no response for a moment and then he came back. </p>
<p>“Not exactly,” he said. “But I’m not gonna lie, that would be an excellent bonus.”</p>
<p>She hummed, debating. But, no. </p>
<p>“Why did you call me then?” she asked, steering the conversation back on track. </p>
<p>“I like the sound of your voice,” he said. “And I uh- I wanted to ask you something.”</p>
<p>“Ask away,” she said breezily, ignoring her night shirt and instead stretching out on her bed. Depending on how the conversation went, she might just tell him about it. </p>
<p>“I want to take you out,” he blurted. “On a date. A proper one. For dinner and shit.”</p>
<p>Those damn butterflies were fluttering up a frenzy. </p>
<p>“’Dinner and shit’,” she mused. “Sounds romantic.”</p>
<p>“You know what I mean.”</p>
<p>“Do I?”</p>
<p>“Yes,” he said, tone heavy with certainty. </p>
<p>“I still haven’t heard a question.”</p>
<p>He sighed, and Katelyn could imagine him running his hand through his hair. Hair that she’d already sunk her hands into that night. The memory of it made her warm all over. </p>
<p>“Do you wanna go out for dinner with me?“ he finally asked. “As a date.”</p>
<p>She hummed on the other end of the line before answering, “I thought you didn’t date.”</p>
<p>“I don’t,” he said immediately. “But <em>you</em>… everything’s just so different with you.”</p>
<p>She paused. Then she shut her eyes. </p>
<p>“How drunk are you?“ she asked. </p>
<p>He paused before he answered. Really, that was all the answer she needed. </p>
<p>“I’m drunk,” he admitted reluctantly. “Not as drunk as I could be. Not so drunk that I won’t remember this conversation in the morning. Not so drunk that I don’t know that I’ve been thinking about this since you disappeared at the football stadium. I <em>want</em> to take you out. If you’ll let me.”</p>
<p>Her chest expanded with a heavy breath. </p>
<p>“So… you take me out, and then what?”</p>
<p>“Then… then whatever you want. I have no expectations,” he said, then quickly backtracked. “No. Wait. That’s a lie. I have expectations.”</p>
<p>Ah, alcohol. Such a smooth mouth lubricant. </p>
<p>“I want you to enjoy yourself. I wanna try to make you laugh, and I definitely want to make you smile. That smile of yours—do you know? That’s the first thing I ever noticed about you. That fucking smile. You’re hot as hell Katelyn, but that smile of yours absolutely <em>kills me.</em> That real one, not the one you put on for games and for others. That one you give <em>me.</em> It lights up your eyes like burning coals and makes the rest of the world just… disappear. I wanna see that smile.”</p>
<p>Oh shit, what was he trying to do to her here? She hadn’t—yeah, wow, she hadn’t expected that. </p>
<p>Her heart felt like it physically swelled behind her ribs. </p>
<p>“You’re a smooth talker, Aaron Minyard,” she said, somehow still having control of her voice. “I hope you know that I’ll tease you mercilessly on our date.”</p>
<p>Her cheeks were so flushed she might as well be on fire. </p>
<p>“Good. Do. I won’t take back a single word of it. I just need you to say yes.”</p>
<p>“Yes,” she said, barely more than a whisper. There was nothing else she could say. Nothing else she wanted to say. Just <em>yes, yes, yes.</em> </p>
<p>God, he made her such a mess. </p>
<p>“Good. That’s great- <em>Fuck.“</em> </p>
<p>“What?” she pressed, hearing his distress in his curse. </p>
<p>“I have to- I have to go. They’ll come looking for me. But. Thank you, Katelyn. I’ll text you tomorrow and we can make a date. For our date,” he said lowly. </p>
<p>“Okay,“ she agreed. “Until tomorrow.”</p>
<p>“Sweet dreams, Katelyn,” he said. </p>
<p>“Sweet dreams, Aaron,” she parroted, trying to breathe through the heavy elation in her chest. Her heart was trying to beat out of her ribcage. </p>
<p>She hung up first, and then stared at her phone for far too long. </p>
<p>In the morning, when she woke, she had a message on her phone </p>
<p>
  <em>03:17 Aaron Minyard: sleep well, Katelyn. I’ll talk to you soon xo</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>**</p>
<p>Katelyn was a minimalistic type when it came to her clothing, preferring subtle and sophisticated over flashy or revealing. </p>
<p>She only had three fancy dresses with her, and all were the kind that could be dressed up or down depending on accessories. She chose her plainest but tightest, and she knew she looked good. </p>
<p>A dark navy, the dress was high at the collar and low at the knee. More skin was covered than her cheerleading uniform, but the cut of it was very tight, very fitting, and put all her athletic assets on display. </p>
<p>It was the kind of dress that you couldn’t wear underwear with because it would show the lines, and didn’t that just make her feel a little bit naughty, give her a little bit of a thrill, that buzz of wicked daring that had her strawberry pink blush coming through under her thin layer of powder.</p>
<p>She wondered what Aaron would say. She wondered if she’d even be bold enough to tell him.</p>
<p>She left her hair loose, falling dark and straight down her back and over her shoulders. </p>
<p>She decided to forgo her heels knowing that her feet would thank her for it and so might Aaron. She already stood taller than him. </p>
<p>A silver locket around her neck, two plain silver bangles, a touch of eyeliner, a brush of mascara and a swipe of lip gloss and she was ready to call herself done. </p>
<p>Result: sophisticated yet sexy.</p>
<p>
  <em>Eat your heart out, Aaron Minyard.</em>
</p>
<p>Aaron, as it turned out, seemed to agree with her self assessment. When she’d met him around the back of her dorm building he’d stood there and stared, eyes blown wide and jaw on the floor. </p>
<p>Oh, she wasn’t going to lie, it was a perfectly satisfying reaction and exactly what she’d been aiming for. She even got to do that cliché thing and nudge his mouth closed with the back of her hand, causing his teeth to clink and a laugh to come out under her breath.</p>
<p>He blinked and shook his head like he was trying to clear his thoughts. </p>
<p>Katelyn raised an eyebrow at him, amused.</p>
<p>It was really hard not to kiss him right then. Especially with the way he was looking at her. </p>
<p>“Hey,” he croaked in an utterly endearing and unflattering way, before quickly coughing into his hand. “Hey. Katelyn. You look, um… uh.”</p>
<p>“Um, uh?”</p>
<p>“Good. Yeah. Um. Good. Great. You look <em>great.</em> Um, wow.”</p>
<p>“Why Aaron, you have such a way with words,” she teased him gently, batting her lashes obnoxiously. “And to think, you were so charming on the phone.”</p>
<p>He let out a rush of breath, clearing his throat and running a hand over his face and up into his already unruly mess of blonde locks. </p>
<p>Katelyn’s eyes tracked the movement in a way that had now become a habit. </p>
<p>“Well. To be fair, I didn’t have you standing right in front of me as a distraction,” he said, letting his eyes linger over her again. “Although… I definitely prefer it like this.”</p>
<p>He stepped closer, into her space. She thought that he meant to kiss her then, but his gaze darted around them, taking in how exposed they were. </p>
<p>At that moment, Katelyn didn’t really care. </p>
<p>A hint of cologne wafted, something a little musty and a little minty, and underlined with athletic-grade deodorant. It was fresh and seemed just like Aaron. Simple on the surface but with hidden depths. </p>
<p>Not unpleasant. Not unpleasant at all. Katelyn inhaled deeply despite herself. </p>
<p>“I, uh,” he cleared his throat again, seeming to finally collect his thoughts. His face twisted a little. “Sorry, but we’re going to have to walk. I don’t have a vehicle. I hope that’s okay.”</p>
<p>“Oh, no,” she teased dramatically, already having guessed at that. “I might not make it.” </p>
<p>“I mean, I could always carry you,” he taunted back, coming back to himself, a small smile curling at the corner. “If you’re too delicate to walk.“</p>
<p>Hmm… front or back?</p>
<p>No. Bad Katelyn.</p>
<p>“Or, I could carry you,” she shot back, before her dirty thoughts got away on her.</p>
<p>“No,” He scoffed, before he tilted his head a little, considering. “Do you even think you could?”</p>
<p>Katelyn took advantage of the excuse to look him over. It was a good sight. A dark green button-down that hugged him in all the right places, three buttons opened at the collar. Dark jeans that fit well, only slightly puckered at the hem. It set off the lighter colour of his hair and brought out the darkness in his eyes. </p>
<p>Very nice. Very nice indeed. So nice, in fact, that she was very tempted to slip her fingers into his collar to get another peek at what was underneath of it.</p>
<p>She wondered if he’d let her coerce him back into her bedroom, behind a locked door. She wondered if she’d be disappointed if he did, or if going out on a date was really just delaying the inevitable. </p>
<p>It wasn’t like she hadn’t already let him venture between her thighs. It wasn’t like she hadn’t already thought about, and <em>wanted</em> it. And more. She definitely wanted a little more. </p>
<p>It was as though they were doing this backwards, and it was throwing her a little off her game. </p>
<p>Was she looking for a gentleman? Or a man who couldn’t keep his hands off of her? She wasn’t sure.</p>
<p>Katelyn didn’t have a specific type when it came to her sexual relationships, at least not in the looks department. They had to be physically appealing, of course, but a specific or even general physical trait wasn’t necessary. What she needed, though -her ‘type’ really- had to be intelligent. He could be the epitome of a woman’s wet dream in the sack, but if he lacked real intelligence, then she wasn’t interested. </p>
<p>She needed to be engaged, both physically and mentally. And respected. Appreciated. </p>
<p>It was starting to really feel like Aaron ticked all of those boxes. </p>
<p>“Yeah, I reckon I could,” She met his eyes and let herself be a little devilish. “I may be slim, but this?” she motioned to her body and his eyes followed the slow flow of her hand. “Is all muscle, baby.”</p>
<p>His mouth twisted. Just a little bit. And his eyes narrowed. Just a touch.</p>
<p>That was not the reaction she was going for.</p>
<p>“You don’t like pet names?” she asked, assuming that was the issue.</p>
<p>He shook his head and gave an apologetic shrug, but it was too stiff to be casual. “No, it’s just…” and his mouth twisted further. “My mother used to call me that.”</p>
<p>“Ah,” she said. “Duly noted.”</p>
<p>She’d never really heard Aaron talk about his mother before. It wasn’t a subject that ever came up. There were rumours, but most of them revolved around his twin. And none of them were particularly nice. </p>
<p>“Okay, so I’m starving. Shall we?” she smiled, nudging his shoulder with her own, trying to diffuse the sudden tension.</p>
<p>“Yeah,” he smiled, voice all low and warm. Then he stuck out his elbow for her to take, and she slid right in beside him, hooking her arm around his. </p>
<p>The walk was nice, the evening crisp and cool against warm limbs. Conversation flowed easily, a pleasant back and forth that had a smile permanently attached to Katelyn’s face, and that was coaxing more and more out of Aaron. </p>
<p>He had a really nice smile; it was kind of crooked, hitched up further on his left side than his right. A little wobbly, like his mouth wasn’t used to the stretch. But <em>damn.</em> When he smiled it just transformed his face completely.</p>
<p>Katelyn’s hand had run down his bicep, fingers sliding over his forearm and when she’d got to his wrist he’d obviously picked up on her thoughts because his fingers laced in between hers and held her securely. They walked the rest of the way hand-in-hand, shoulders brushing, and something settled within Katelyn’s chest.</p>
<p>“Seriously?” she turned to him when they stopped, equal parts amused and annoyed. “Korean?”</p>
<p>He shrugged, but he met her gaze with a steady one of his own, “We can go somewhere else if you want, I do have another place in mind. But, apparently, this place is authentic. I thought it’d be interesting to see if that’s true.”</p>
<p>It could be a cheap move, or a well thought out one. She was leaning towards the latter though, with the way his eyes danced with challenge and amusement. The ball was in her court now, and he seemed interested to see what she decided. </p>
<p>It was something she was still getting used to, the way he valued her opinion. </p>
<p>Without another word she stepped to the doors and let herself inside. She looked back as she held the door open for him, his hand landing an inch away from hers, and arched her brow. </p>
<p>Aaron, however, didn’t notice. No, the angle of his gaze was much, much lower.</p>
<p>“My face is up here,” she said pointedly.</p>
<p>“Yep,” he cleared his throat, eyes shooting back up to hers. His smile turned a little sheepish but it held no apology.</p>
<p>When he stepped up beside her his hand ran along the small of her back and his lips pressed feather-light to the freckle on her shoulder before he greeted the man at the front desk. Katelyn’s entire body felt warm and she sighed a little shakily.</p>
<p>They were seated at a table in the corner, the place not too busy to need a booking. Fresh flowers smelled sweetly on the table, the lighting low with candles on the tables. It was all very romantic. She told him as much.</p>
<p>“Only the best for you, <em>darlin’</em>,” he replied, the corner of his lip curled as he looked at the menu. </p>
<p>“<em>’Darlin’?</em>” she leaned back, amused despite herself. “What are you, a cowboy?”</p>
<p>“Maybe I will be,” he shrugged, eyes flicking up back to hers. “If I don’t get into medical school.”</p>
<p>“You’ll get in,” she said, feeling confident in that. “Besides,” she said archly. “Can you even get on a horse?”</p>
<p>He dropped his menu and sent her a thoroughly unimpressed look.</p>
<p>She pressed her giggle into her palm. She was feeling ridiculously giddy and stupid, but it felt <em>good.</em></p>
<p>“You’re not funny, <em>darlin’</em>.”</p>
<p>“Hm,” She removed her hand and considered him. “Honestly, I’m not a fan of pet names.”</p>
<p>“That so?” He tilted his head and a strand of his messy hair fell into his face, casting a shadow over his eye. He flicked it back like it annoyed him. “Any particular reason?“</p>
<p>She hummed as she thought. Past lovers had called her pet names before, but she’d never really considered why it annoyed her. But with Aaron, well…  it felt different. Everything about this – them- felt <em>different. </em></p>
<p>“I have a name,” she said finally. “And I liked that it’s used, I guess.”</p>
<p>“Kate,” he asked. “Or Katelyn?“</p>
<p>“Everyone calls me Kate.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, but what do you prefer?”</p>
<p>She smiled. It was like he’d passed a test she hadn’t even known she was giving, “I do like Kate.”</p>
<p>“I like Kate, too,” he said, eyes darting away quickly before roaming back to her. </p>
<p>She smiled a small smile and his lips tilted up at the edges, their gazes caught on each other, nothing being said but nothing was necessary at that moment. Just them. Like they were the only two in the room. </p>
<p>Then the waiter arrived, gently breaking the bubble. </p>
<p>“Good evening. My name is Korain and I’ll be your waiter for this evening. Are you ready to order?” his tone was pleasant, as was his smile, a slight accent on his words that she thought she could maybe recognize. </p>
<p>She greeted him in Korean, and he seemed delighted that she could speak it, answering enthusiastically. The talk was small, just a short exchange of pleasantries, but it made her realize how much she dearly missed her parents. Her home.</p>
<p>Her gaze flickered to Aaron, not sure what she’d find. He didn’t seem bothered at all, eyes skimming the menu before they landed back on her. There was something in his gaze. Something pleased. He wasn’t scowling, wasn’t smiling, but his jaw was relaxed and posture calm. It was knowing, almost. Deep. </p>
<p>“Ah,” Korain said, back in his lightly accented English. “I shall let you get back to your date. My apologies for taking up your time.”</p>
<p>Katelyn sent him her cheerleader smile, “Not at all. It was a nice change. I only really get to speak with uni oemma. I miss it.”</p>
<p>He gave her a polite smile in return and Katelyn could feel Aaron’s gaze on her. Subtle, but there. </p>
<p>“Have you had a chance to look at your menus?”</p>
<p>“Not yet. A few more minutes please? If you don’t mind.”</p>
<p>“Certainly,” he nodded then left. </p>
<p>Aaron had folded up his menu. </p>
<p>“’Oemma’,” the words sounded stilted and strange on his tongue, the emphasis in the wrong places. “Does that mean mother?“</p>
<p>She sent him a sly look, “Have you been studying Korean?”</p>
<p>He shook his head, leaning back, “I’ve just heard you say it a few times.”</p>
<p>“Yes, but it’s a more informal version of mother. More equivalent to ‘mum’ or ‘mama’. My oemma is from South Korea, in Seoul. She moved to America when she was twelve.”</p>
<p>He nodded, fingers moving on the tablecloth, “I’ve only ever been here.”</p>
<p>“Me too. I’ve never left the states, but I dearly would love to go to Seoul one day, discover my roots. See where I came from.”</p>
<p>He nodded again, brow furrowed now, lips down tilted. More of his hair had fallen forwards but this time he ignored it. </p>
<p>The silence lasted a beat. Then two. </p>
<p>Then she asked, “What about you?“</p>
<p>He shrugged, “Doesn’t matter.” His voice was a bit harsher, a bit colder. </p>
<p>Then he seemed to realize and shook himself off, hands running through his hair, “I don’t know my father. Never have. My mother, well. She was from Columbia. Never travelled far, at least not with me.”</p>
<p>There was so much more to his admittance than just what the words conveyed.</p>
<p>It was almost tragic, watching him talk about it. In such contrast to her own life, her own upbringing. The love she’d always had. It was painful, but it was revealing. More layers of Aaron Minyard that were yet to be discovered. The hidden depths of him. The uncloaking of why he may surround himself with so many defenses. </p>
<p>He was an interesting puzzle and Katelyn found herself equal parts curious and almost afraid to discover the truth of it. </p>
<p>She leaned forward, because she didn’t know what to say, didn’t know what she <em>could</em> say, placing her hand lightly upon his. </p>
<p>He stared down at her hand resting over his, something working in his expression that she couldn’t quite figure out. Then his short, worn fingers moved, slipping under hers and interlacing their fingers once again. </p>
<p>He cleared his throat, “Let’s not…  talk about family. At least not mine.” </p>
<p>She nodded, hoping he didn’t mind the sympathy that was no doubt showing on her face. In her smile. She didn’t pity Aaron Minyard, but definitely felt for him. </p>
<p>Just how much… well.  She wasn’t quite ready to dissect all of that. </p>
<p>He rallied, food an easy distraction. When she’d asked him what he liked, he told her she could choose, he’d trust her judgement. </p>
<p>She liked that. She liked that a lot. </p>
<p>He was polite with Korain, which was a strange sight to see. No, not strange. Different. With his family, he was always withdrawn. Always… shaded. Like he wasn’t quite there. With his teammates he seemed standoffish, and in class he was only ever civil. Not unkind, but. Blunt.</p>
<p>Now though, he was pleasant, and not just to Katelyn. She wondered if he was doing it for her benefit. Or hoped, maybe, that it was because he felt relaxed in her presence. Enough to let his guard down. </p>
<p>Maybe she did want a gentleman after all. </p>
<p>Aaron downed a good few mouthfuls of cold milk after burning his tongue on a particularly spicy dish, then sent her an unimpressed scowl. But it did not diminish the lightness in his eyes. </p>
<p>“That was cold.”</p>
<p>“Hm, that’s strange. I’d have thought it would be hot. You might want to get that checked out,” she sent him a wicked smile. “Shall I play doctor for you?“</p>
<p>He choked on his milk and it might have been a little bit satisfying.</p>
<p>“Now you’re just doing that on purpose,” he accused lightly, once he’d recovered himself. “Careful, or I might just need to take you up on that offer.”</p>
<p>She grinned into her glass, watching him as she drank.</p>
<p>“Speaking of hot,” he said, leaning forwards over the table. He pushed his plate to the side. “Have I told you that you look incredible yet?”</p>
<p>“Smooth,” she teased. “Are you trying to make up for your earlier stumble?”</p>
<p>“No,” he shook his head. His own wicked smile started to peek at the corner of his mouth. “It was entirely appropriate.”</p>
<p>“If you say so,” she said lightly, despite the heat from his gaze. Then, “You don’t look too shabby yourself.”</p>
<p>That tension that had been building all night grew a lot heavier. The air was thicker, breaths deeper. On the cusp of something. </p>
<p>She wanted to get her hands on him. </p>
<p>From the way he was looking at her, it seemed he was thinking the same thing. </p>
<p>Korain came back then, interrupting the atmosphere once again. </p>
<p>It was a good thing though. Katelyn was already finding herself tempted to persuade Aaron off for a little trip to the bathroom. Nothing too scandalous, but she definitely wanted to kiss him, feel his hands running over her dress, on her arms, through her hair. </p>
<p>There was too much space between them right now, and she wanted it gone. </p>
<p>They had time, though. Her dorm room was empty. Better to wait for a more secluded place without any restrictions. </p>
<p>Aaron paid, and though she’d put up a fight he told her it was her turn to pay next time, and that had appeased her. </p>
<p>There <em>would</em> be a next time, of that she was sure. </p>
<p>Well, you know what they say about famous last words. The night had been perfect, of course it had to end.</p>
<p>They were barely ten steps up the street when Aaron’s phone rang. He stiffened, but ignored it.</p>
<p>It rang again. And again. And again. And again. </p>
<p>Each time Katelyn felt herself growing more confused. Each time Aaron visibly got more wound up and pissed off. Each time Aaron stubbornly ignored her questioning looks.</p>
<p>Finally, he answered, “What?”</p>
<p>There was no pleasantness left in his tone. </p>
<p>“Tell him to go fuck himself.”</p>
<p>“I’m studying.”</p>
<p>“I’m at the library.”</p>
<p>
  <em>“Fuck.”</em>
</p>
<p>Then he hung up.</p>
<p>It was a strange feeling, that settling darkness and dread that blanketed over them. </p>
<p>It took Katelyn a moment to realize that it wasn’t hers, but the dark cloud around Aaron was so thick she couldn’t help but be affected by it. </p>
<p>She wondered if she should be insulted by his obvious denial about their date.</p>
<p>She wondered if she should be concerned about the tremor in his fists, the clenching of his jaw. </p>
<p>She wondered if he would say it, what was so plainly clear on his face. </p>
<p>“Say it,” she said, staring at him hard whilst he avoided her gaze. He owed her that much.</p>
<p>He shot her a glare. Then inhaled. Then tugged at his hair and ran his hand down his face and growled in frustration. In anger. But then he finally said it.</p>
<p>“This can’t happen again. It was a mistake.”</p>
<p>Despite her anticipation of the words, it still landed like a slap.</p>
<p>“At least tell me why? You owe me that much,” she pressed, the rejection was stinging on her pride, making her angry.</p>
<p>Stinging her heart, making her <em>hurt.</em> </p>
<p>“I owe you nothing,” he snapped back.</p>
<p>“Right,” she said, trying to steel herself against the pain. “Fine.”</p>
<p>“You wouldn’t understand.”</p>
<p>“Try me,” oh god, now she was <em>pleading.</em> </p>
<p>“No,” he shook his head. “No. It’s fucked. It’s so fucked. You wouldn’t understand because it makes <em>no fucking sense.</em> I won’t let him hurt you.”</p>
<p>“Hurt? Aaron what the hell-?”</p>
<p>How did this happen? <em>What</em> was even happening? None of this made any kind of sense. </p>
<p>He was backing away, though. Shaking his head. “I’m sorry, Kate. I have to go. You can do better, anyway.”</p>
<p>And then he left, stalking off. Leaving. Without her. </p>
<p>Oh, that hurt. It hurt so damn bad Katelyn felt that damn prickle of tears and that lump lodge itself in her throat. </p>
<p>She took a long walk home, feeling the ache in her chest. Traitorous tears leaked down her face, running along her chin. Filling her mouth with the taste of salt. </p>
<p>By the time she got back to the dorms her tears had dried. The ache in her chest just felt hollow. She held her head high as she walked into her dorm building. </p>
<p>She was Katelyn Mun, strong and proud. She was fine</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“…ave to grab some things from the house since we’re staying in Palmetto over the summer,” Nicky was saying, drumming his thumbs on the steering wheel.</p>
<p>Aaron’s fingers were clenched around his seatbelt, the scenery buzzing past in his peripheral as he stared hard at the glass of the window. If he concentrated, he could picture what it would be like to smash his fist into it. </p>
<p>His knuckles creaked on the belt, grip adjusting.</p>
<p>He didn’t want to be in this car. But between going on a booze run with Nicky or being stuck at home with his thoughts... Nicky was the only option he could stomach.</p>
<p>He should be studying. He should have his textbooks out and his laptop open. He should be emailing his professors his completed assignments and he should be preparing for the finals that began next week. </p>
<p>Instead, he was in the car with Nicky, gripping onto his seatbelt and pretending that he wasnt one single fucking thread away from snapping. </p>
<p>“What?” He snarled, far harsher than was necessary but all he could be right now was harsh. He was all sharp edges and viciousness.</p>
<p>“Oh,” Nicky shrugged, like he hadn’t actually expected Aaron to be listening. “I suppose it won’t really matter. I can’t imagine Andrew will be willing to give up going to Eden’s, anyway. If Kevin thinks I’m gonna spend my whole summer holiday practicing, though, he’s got another thing coming. My skin needs <em>sun.</em> It’s so <em>pale.</em>”</p>
<p>Aaron took his gaze off the glass to squint at Nicky. It was a herculean effort.</p>
<p>“What are you talking about?”</p>
<p>“My skin,” and Nicky took a pinch of his forearm for emphasis. “I look washed out and grey.”</p>
<p>He was still at least four shades darker than Aaron.</p>
<p>“Not your skin, Nicky,” Aaron snapped impatiently. “What do you mean we’re staying in Palmetto?”</p>
<p>Nicky took his eyes off the road and sent Aaron a confused side-eye, “I mean... the fact that we’re staying with Abby this summer? So we’re close to the court? Any of this ringing any bells?”</p>
<p>No. No it absolutely fucking wasnt.</p>
<p>“And when did Andrew decide all this then?” Aaron grit out.</p>
<p>“Uhhh, last Friday? You were there, Aaron,” Nicky explained. “Granted, you were pretty smashed, but you agreed all the same.”</p>
<p>Aaron couldn’t even remember last Friday. Not really. He’d taken his forth shot of tequila in the first 20 minutes and everything else had become a dead space, his memory wiped clean.</p>
<p>Tonight he was gonna be aiming for the same effect.</p>
<p>Aaron turned his head and looked back out the window, annoyance prickling hot under his skin and in his throat, threatening to curl up into his shoulders.</p>
<p>Of fucking course. Of course they were staying in Palmetto. The only thing Kevin Day ever thought about was Exy. </p>
<p>Now that Kevin was enrolled in the university and joining the Foxes team for next semester, there wasn’t a day he didn’t spend training his right hand to do what his left no longer could. </p>
<p>With the loss of their most senior players (minus Seth) due to police raids and cancelled scholarships, Jamie Smalls’ suicide attempt, and their only new recruit a first year rookie from Arizona, Kevin was set to be a starting striker for the new season.</p>
<p>And of fucking course now that Kevin Day had been absorbed into whatever fucked up collection of people Andrew liked to keep around him, that meant that where Kevin went, Andrew went.</p>
<p>And where Andrew went, Nicky and Aaron were dragged along with him.</p>
<p>The thing was, it wasn’t fucking normal. Aaron knew it wasn’t fucking normal, okay? He knew just how fucked up it was that Andrew had them on a short fucking leash, possessive in his hold and controlling in their actions. </p>
<p>The thing was, people would never understand what it was like to live with Andrew. What it was like to have decisions made for you, being tugged here and there, and to watch someone drive every single other person out of your life until they were all you had left. To live with a sociopath who was violent and controlling.</p>
<p>The thing was, it wasn’t fucking normal or healthy, but none of them were fucking normal or healthy. </p>
<p>Aaron had Andrew and he had Nicky. And when Nicky finally up and left all Aaron was gonna have was Andrew. A brother he didn’t know and who most days wouldn’t even fucking look at him. No one knew what it was like to both want something so desperately and hate it so acutely he could barely breathe.</p>
<p>This... this is what came with having Andrew in your life. If Aaron wanted to have a brother then this was what he had to endure. And he endured, because he didn’t want to be alone. </p>
<p>He’d always felt <em>so alone.</em></p>
<p>But sometimes it felt so suffocating, swallowing that fucking pill. Sometimes it was like choking, a gag caught in his throat. Sometimes he wanted to rip out all of his hair and sometimes he had to battle with the urge to get so fucking high that he couldn’t feel anything anymore.</p>
<p>He endured. He endured. He <em>endured.</em></p>
<p>He endured the fact that having Andrew meant that he couldn’t have anything else.</p>
<p>He was so pathetic and weak and desperate that he’d take being scorned and dismissed over being rejected completely. He’d take the control and possession because at least it was <em>something.</em> Even when it was so fucked up, it was <em>something.</em></p>
<p>But how the hell was he meant to explain that to anyone else? </p>
<p>People, they wouldn’t understand. Normal people with their normal families, their normal lives, and their normal hopes and dreams, wouldn’t ever understand what it was like to be so fractured that a sociopathic twin who killed your mother was actually something that you wanted to keep.</p>
<p>Now, though? Fucking <em>now</em> he had something else he wanted. <em>Someone</em> else. Someone he wanted so badly it hurt to breathe all the way in. </p>
<p>And he ruined it, like he ruined everything. Just like his mother always said. </p>
<p>The look on Katelyn’s face when he’d left her there would haunt him forever. Every time he shut his eyes it was all that he could see and it was tearing him to shreds. </p>
<p>He didn’t register telling Nicky to pull over. </p>
<p>He didn’t register the door slamming into his shoulder when he practically threw himself out of a still-slowing car. </p>
<p>He didn’t register his foot catching on the curb and sending him to a sprawl on the ground. </p>
<p>He didn’t register Nicky’s call at his back as he heaved himself up and sprinted towards the building. </p>
<p>The only thing he registered was Katelyn’s face in his mind and how that would be the last time she ever spoke to him and he just... He just couldn’t live with that. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>**</p>
<p>It was late. Not so late that people ought to be sleeping, but late enough that everyone not sleeping was in their dorm rooms either studying like crazy for finals or resting their minds with senseless but therapeutic activities. </p>
<p>The knock on the door was strange at this hour but not entirely unexpected, however unwelcome. </p>
<p>Ciara was reading quietly on her bed and didn’t bother looking at Katelyn before getting up. </p>
<p>Katelyn was studying. Her focus entirely on her books, forcing her brain to memorize numbers and theories and refusing to dwell on anything else. </p>
<p>She would <em>not</em> think about anything else. </p>
<p>Ciara didn’t know exactly what had happened, but Katelyn wasn’t so naive to think her clever Vixen’s captain hadn’t put her own pieces together and come up with a clear theory. </p>
<p>How could she not? She’d seen Katelyn Thursday night after she’d gotten home. She’d seen the stark look on Katelyn’s face, her stained makeup, the way she was dressed. </p>
<p>Ciara had asked her only once what had happened and had accepted Katelyn’s refusal to talk only after Ciara had been assured that Katelyn hadn’t been hurt. </p>
<p>Physically. Katelyn hadn’t been hurt physically. </p>
<p>Emotionally... Well. Katelyn wasn’t allowing herself to think about that. </p>
<p>Ciara had been putting herself as a buffer between Katelyn and the outside world for the last half week, finals being an excellent excuse for Katelyn’s withdrawal. </p>
<p>She just- she needed to put her head back where it belonged. Put all this other nonsense behind her. </p>
<p>Her education was her only priority and that’s where it should have stayed. </p>
<p>Which was why it was so strange when Ciara called her name from the doorway. </p>
<p>Katelyn looked up, noticing first Ciara’s white-knuckled grip on the door handle, the strained expression on her face, the way she stood half in front of the entrance like a physical barrier. </p>
<p>And then she saw why. </p>
<p>Her heart kind of stuttered a little. </p>
<p>And then it <em>ached.</em> </p>
<p>Katelyn could barely breathe. </p>
<p><em>“Get out,” </em>a voice said sharply. </p>
<p>For a moment, Katelyn thought that Ciara had said it until she realised the words rumbled from her own throat. </p>
<p>“Kate-“ he started, voice all cracking and agonised in a way that ripped at Katelyn’s chest brutally. </p>
<p>But she didn’t want to hear a word of it. </p>
<p>“You heard her, <em>get out,</em>” Ciara said, that stern captain voice coming out on every syllable. </p>
<p>Aaron’s dark eyes didn’t leave her and Katelyn’s traitorous body refused to turn itself away. </p>
<p>Ciara went to slam the door in his face but Aaron’s hand shot out immediately, halting its trajectory. </p>
<p>“Do I need to call security?” Ciara growled, but Aaron didn’t even acknowledge her. </p>
<p>He only had eyes for Katelyn. </p>
<p>“I’ll tell you,” he told her quickly. “Kick me out after, but I’ll tell you everything.”</p>
<p>The world stood still for a moment. Katelyn was caught in an agonising battle between her rational mind and her completely irrational feelings . Her pride and her heart. </p>
<p>“Listen here, Minyard-“ Ciara started, but Katelyn cut her off.</p>
<p>“You say your peace and then you leave.”</p>
<p>Aaron’s eyes widened. Then he swallowed. Nodded quickly. His chest expanded like he was relieved. </p>
<p>He shouldn’t be relieved. </p>
<p>“Kate?” Ciara questioned sharply, her narrowed gaze now picking over Katelyn’s face. </p>
<p>“Can you give us a minute please?” Katelyn asked, but she still didn’t look at her. </p>
<p>Ciara didn’t answer for a moment and Katelyn thought she might refuse. </p>
<p>Then she said, “fine.” And finally moved away from the door. </p>
<p>Neither Aaron nor Katelyn moved. </p>
<p>Ciara grabbed her phone off the charger and then pointed it at Katelyn like a weapon, “You call me in exactly 30 minutes or I will barge in here and start swinging, you got me?”</p>
<p>Katelyn let out a shaky sigh, finally looking to Ciara’s angry gaze, feeling immensely grateful for her friend’s protectiveness. </p>
<p>She nodded. Ciara’s eyes narrowed. </p>
<p>Then she turned that dark look on Aaron. </p>
<p>“When I come back, if she is not in the perfect condition that I left her in, there will be hell to pay, Minyard. Mark my words.”</p>
<p>Aaron dragged his gaze away from Katelyn and finally looked at the staunch woman who towered over him by at least a foot. </p>
<p>He nodded once, and Ciara left. </p>
<p>Then they were alone. </p>
<p>Katelyn couldn’t count the number of times she’d imagined getting Aaron alone in her dorm room. In her space and on her bed. Together. </p>
<p>It’d been wistful imaginings and silly romantic daydreams. The chance to finally get him to herself, away from prying eyes. </p>
<p>But that was before. Now Katelyn had banished all those ridiculous notions from her mind. </p>
<p>What good were daydreams, anyway? They got you nowhere but hurt. </p>
<p>Aaron stared. He shuffled his feet awkwardly. His eyes darted out into the hall like he was checking for prying eyes before he looked back at her.</p>
<p>“Can I come in?” he asked, voice low and tentative. </p>
<p>“Do I have a choice?”</p>
<p>“Yes,” he said immediately. “You tell me to leave and I’ll go.”</p>
<p>Katelyn narrowed her eyes at him and watched him shift nervously. </p>
<p>There was a bitter and cold part of her that demanded she send him packing right now. It flared to life in her chest, righteous with anger and aching with hurt. She almost did. It was so close <em>-so damn close-</em> but the words wouldn’t come out of her mouth. </p>
<p>It was only because she wanted closure, she told herself. </p>
<p>“Fine,” she said. </p>
<p>He stepped inside. The door closed softly behind him but it still felt final. </p>
<p>He hovered by the door and didn’t move to make himself comfortable. </p>
<p>The silence stretched, the air heavy and thick with tension. </p>
<p>“How are you?” he asked, like a damn fool. </p>
<p>Katelyn crossed her arms over her chest and didn’t even dignify that with an answer. </p>
<p>He got the hint. </p>
<p>“Right. Stupid question,” he muttered, dropping her gaze and running a hand through his hair like she’d seen him do a thousand times. </p>
<p>His jaw worked like it didn’t quite fit right, and then his hand ran over it. </p>
<p>“Why are you here?” Katelyn demanded, because she was quickly running out of patience. </p>
<p>Or willpower. Or strength. </p>
<p>She was <em>fine.</em> </p>
<p>“I owe you an apology,” he said.</p>
<p>“I don’t want your apology,” she shot back. </p>
<p>He nodded, like he’d expected that, and Katelyn felt a simmering resentment low in her chest. He had no right to anticipate her words. To <em>know</em> her. He’d thrown that away like it was nothing.</p>
<p>“But I owe you one anyway.”</p>
<p>“You owe me nothing, remember?” </p>
<p>He winced, swallowing. His hands fisted into the front of his grey hoodie. </p>
<p>“I deserved that.” </p>
<p>“You’re damn right you do,” she said, and her voice cracked a little. </p>
<p>Goddammit <em>no.</em> She would <em>not cry.</em> She was <em>angry.</em> </p>
<p>His shoulders sagged at her tone, his face crestfallen. His eyes softened at the edges, all sad and pleading. His mouth parted slightly, like he had magical words on the tip of his tongue. Words that could fix everything. He looked the very picture of remorseful.</p>
<p>The absolute <em>asshole.</em> </p>
<p>“Kate...”</p>
<p>“Don’t,” she snapped, and goddamn it, but her voice broke. </p>
<p>Oh, how she <em>hurt.</em> </p>
<p>It hurt so bad and he was standing there like all he wanted to do was to crush her in his arms, and there was that stupid tiny part of her that <em>wanted</em> him to. </p>
<p>That stupid tiny part of her that was to blame for all this mess. That had gotten into her head and woven sweet fantasies and senseless romantic notions despite her better judgement, tripping her up at every turn and pleading for her to just give him another chance <em>-Just one more. Don’t shut him out yet. Just wait. Just one more. </em></p>
<p>She was so done with giving Aaron another chance. </p>
<p>“Say what you came to say and then leave,” Katelyn spoke in a low monotone, calm and clear and controlled. Her gaze rested in a barely perceivable stain in the carpet. She couldn’t look at him anymore. </p>
<p>“Okay,” he said. “Yep.”</p>
<p>Then he took a breath and said, “I’m going to tell you about Andrew.”</p>
<p>That-</p>
<p>That was not what she’d expected to hear. </p>
<p>“I’m sure you’ve heard the rumours, but I’m gonna tell you the facts: I grew up as an only child.”</p>
<p>Her gaze shifted back to him. He looked pale. There were bags under his eyes like he hadn’t slept in days. The front of his hoodie was marked like something had been spilt on it.</p>
<p>“Wait. No,” he said, hand running over his face. “Before I tell you that, I need to tell you something else.”</p>
<p>She waited. She couldn’t deny that she was curious.</p>
<p>He worked his jaw before he finally spit it out. </p>
<p>“I’m an addict.”</p>
<p>That made her freeze. </p>
<p>“Recovered addict,” he amended quickly. “I haven’t touched hard drugs since I was sixteen.”</p>
<p>Sixteen. </p>
<p>
  <em>Sixteen.</em>
</p>
<p>That was—that was so <em>young.</em> At sixteen she hadn’t yet had more than a single glass of wine or a watered-down shanty. </p>
<p>“Hard drugs?” her voice sounded a little hollow. </p>
<p>His mouth twisted to something self-deprecating, “I take Cracker Dust on the weekends, when we go to Columbia. And I drink. Nothing else.”</p>
<p>There was something stirring in her chest, “Is that a good idea?”</p>
<p>“No,” he grimaced. “Probably not. But I’m careful.”</p>
<p>“You’re careful” she repeated, but the scepticism was clear in her tone. She was... processing. It was hard for her to correlate between her mental image of an addict, and the man who stood before her. </p>
<p>“I know you’re judging me,” he continued, hand twisting in his stained hoodie pocket. “I don’t blame you. But, Kate. That’s not even <em>half</em> of it.”</p>
<p>It came in waves. All connected by the same dark depths, but washing up on the shore in rolling sections.</p>
<p>It wasn’t a nice story. </p>
<p>Katelyn felt no satisfaction at getting to hear it. </p>
<p>If she was truly honest with herself then she’d say that she wished she’d stayed ignorant. </p>
<p>But she didn’t make him stop talking. </p>
<p>No. Instead she watched as he fumbled and forced his way through it, gritting his teeth and tugging on his roots. Pacing the carpet raw. </p>
<p>He cut himself open and she got a glimpse at all his innards. Laid before her like a sacrificial offering. </p>
<p>She should have stayed blind. </p>
<p>But she couldn’t unsee. </p>
<p>It was also absolutely insane. It sounded like something out of a movie or a book, certainly nothing that could be real. Twins didn’t get separated at birth. Thirteen year old boys didn’t gain access to their mother’s pills. Mothers didn’t beat their children. Sixteen year olds didn’t purposely cause fatal car crashes. Estranged brothers didn’t make possessive deals to isolate themselves from everyone but each other. It was all kinds of seriously messed up. Katelyn could easily accuse him of lying.</p>
<p>But he was looking at her like he was waiting for it. </p>
<p>It was in the twist of his mouth, the sharp edge to his words, the hardness in his eyes. He was looking at her like he was waiting for her to call him crazy. To call him a liar. To tell him that he was messed up in the head and needed to see someone. Like at any moment she was about to send his ass packing right out that door.</p>
<p>And by rights, she should.</p>
<p>It was... a lot to process. Too much, probably. It didn’t make sense, but it also made perfect sense in that way all the evidence seemed to back up what he said. </p>
<p>All her other theories... a secret girlfriend, commitment issues, that he was stringing her along for sadistic enjoyment, an undiagnosed mental disorder (although that last one could still be a possibility) none of them seemed to fill all the gaps like this did. None aligned so well with his actions, their previous conversations, and the rumours she’d tried but failed not to pay attention to.</p>
<p>She couldn’t tear her eyes away from him even if she’d wanted to.</p>
<p>His scowl returned, his mouth curling up at the edge in a self-mocking and bitter smile. He cracked his knuckles in his fist and looked at her steadily.</p>
<p>“Just say it,” he said, voice flat.</p>
<p>She inhaled, and it shuddered on the way out. It didn’t help the tightness in her chest. She bit her lip and sighed, “What do you want me to say?”</p>
<p>“Exactly what you’re thinking,” He shook his head a little and his teeth ground together. His nostrils flared in a huff that was the complete opposite of humour. “It’s written all over your face, Kate. Just say it.”</p>
<p>“I’m sorry you had to go through all that,” she said.</p>
<p>He looked at her like she’d slapped him. Hair stressed and standing up in all directions, eyes narrowing and mouth twisting like he’d never seen her before.</p>
<p>She stood from her chair and made her way over, steps slow and cautious as the distance between them lessened. And then she was standing right in front of him.</p>
<p>He swallowed, “That can’t be it.”</p>
<p>“It’s not,” she shook her head. “But that’s enough for now.”</p>
<p>“Okay,” he said.</p>
<p>“Okay,” she echoed.</p>
<p>And then she hugged him.</p>
<p>He tensed in her embrace, body like a statue. She was about to pull away, worried she’d crossed another line, but then his shoulders slackened. Loosened. Then his stiffened posture broke completely and he clung to her like he had no intention of letting go. </p>
<p>His arms snaked around her waist and he grabbed fistfuls of her shirt, holding her in a vice grip. Their knees knocked together as he pressed himself closer and his face buried itself into her neck. He let out a shaky sigh that made her heart ache just a little.</p>
<p>Goddamn, but she was so gone for this troubled man. </p>
<p>And then the door opened and it broke that fragile bubble that surrounded them. </p>
<p>Katelyn broke away first but Aaron clinged to her just that little second longer before he finally released her from his clutch. </p>
<p>Ciara sighed, sounding exasperated, shutting the door behind her. </p>
<p>“Am I to assume it’s all sorted then?” she asked, her arms coming up to cross over her chest. </p>
<p>Katelyn looked to Aaron before answering, his expression a lot more steady than it had been but still looking a little raw. He hovered awkwardly beside her, hands once again buried into his pockets. </p>
<p>“It’s... getting there, ” Katelyn said. </p>
<p>“You didn’t call me,“ Ciara accused, and Katelyn finally dragged her eyes away from Aaron to look at her. </p>
<p>“Yeah. I’m sorry. I was a little... distracted,” she admitted, having forgotten about it completely. </p>
<p>Ciara hummed, “Yes. I can see that.”</p>
<p>It was hard to tell what Ciara was thinking. Her frown indicated that it wasn’t anything good. </p>
<p>“We were just-“ Katelyn found herself scrambling for an explanation, but Ciara cut her off. </p>
<p>“Nope,” she held up her hand. “I don’t want to know,” then she sighed and rubbed her hand over her eyes. “Although it is clear that I’m interrupting. I’ll leave you guys to it.”</p>
<p>“You don’t have to,” Katelyn said, her eyes shooting straight back to Aaron, not wanting to kick Ciara out of her own room despite the way he was staring hard at the floor like he wanted to disappear into it. </p>
<p>He still didn’t turn, his back still towards the door and Ciara, like he didn’t want the Vixen’s captain seeing him like this. </p>
<p>Ciara rolled her eyes, her shoulders loosening slightly from their tension. And effectively dropping the tension her presence had brought to the room. </p>
<p>“Don’t lie to me Katelyn, it’s a bad habit,” she said, but her words lacked any real heat. </p>
<p>“I’m not-“</p>
<p>“Shush. I’m offering you an unoccupied dorm room,” she moved further into the room and headed towards her toiletry bag. “But don’t get used to it. I very much enjoy sleeping in my own bed.”</p>
<p>Katelyn’s mind stuttered a little at the thought. </p>
<p>“That’s only if you want it, though?” her captain asked, staring at her with an expression that said she wouldn’t hesitate to manhandle Aaron out the door. </p>
<p>“Yeah,” Katelyn breathed. “Yes. Okay. That’d be great. I’ll owe you one.”</p>
<p>Aaron raised his eyes from the floor and Katelyn could feel the way that hazel gaze bore into the side of her face. </p>
<p>Ciara waved her off, “Yeah, yeah.“ Grabbing her things and shoving them into a reusable shopping bag. </p>
<p>Aaron’s gaze didn’t stop burning as Ciara grabbed everything she needed for a night away from her room and clicked the door shut behind her. </p>
<p>Then they were alone again. </p>
<p>Only this time, they had more than half an hour. </p>
<p>And this time, she wasn’t dreading being alone with him. </p>
<p>No. This time she <em>wanted</em> it. </p>
<p>Aaron’s gaze was heavy and she finally turned her own to meet it. He could light her on fire with only a touch and the look he was giving her left her smouldering. </p>
<p>“Can you stay?“ she asked, voice quiet in the air. Dread and hope entwining in her chest. </p>
<p>“Do you want me to?” he asked, a pinch in his brow like he couldn’t understand why she was asking. </p>
<p>“Yes,” she said, feeling sure. </p>
<p>“Then I’ll stay,” he said, like it was final. </p>
<p>They didn’t talk. Not really. It was like the heavy conversation had used up all their words and any attempt at casual conversation would just be shallow and needless. </p>
<p>Katelyn excused herself to head off to the hall to use the communal bathrooms and came back to find Aaron settled in her desk chair, arms rested over his knees and stare boring holes into the carpet. </p>
<p>That. </p>
<p>That just wouldn’t do. </p>
<p>She tugged at his sleeves and when he finally stood she held his face in her hands gently and leaned down to press her forehead against his. </p>
<p>He let out a shuddered breath. </p>
<p>Then her fingers slipped down, finding their way to his zipper and relieving him of his stained hoodie. </p>
<p>She tugged on his hands and she led him to her bed, him being totally compliant as she pulled him into her arms, his body slipping beside her and his head resting on her chest. </p>
<p>He sighed when she tugged her bedding over them. </p>
<p>His arm curled around her and slipped under her back, gripping her tightly as he breathed into her skin. </p>
<p>Her fingers threaded themselves into his hair, creating new paths in the strands and she just let herself breathe and enjoy the closeness she’d tried to deny she’d been craving. </p>
<p>His eyes closed. His breathing evened. His grip lessened. </p>
<p>Katelyn watched him sleep and didn’t even notice when her own eyes closed and she drifted off with him. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>**</p>
<p>Aaron woke feeling warm, that was the first thing he noticed. Usually he woke in the middle of the night feeling cold and had to yank his blankets over himself, cocooning into a burrito to try to bring warmth back to his body. It usually changed in summer but the season hadn’t yet kicked in and the nights were still cold despite the slowly lingering sun. </p>
<p>Then he noticed the body beside him. The one he had his arm around. The one his thighs were cradled around and the back that was pressed securely against his chest. The shoulder that his face was buried in. </p>
<p>It was disorientating to say the least. </p>
<p>But it was so fucking good he couldn’t help the way his breath left him in a rush of relief. </p>
<p>He was here, with Katelyn, in Katelyn’s room, in her bed, wrapped <em>around</em> Katelyn. And, fuck, she actually <em>wanted</em> him there. </p>
<p>What a mind-blowing notion. </p>
<p>It was so surreal that he felt like he could still be dreaming. </p>
<p>But he wasn’t. No, he was wide awake despite the early morning light that was trying to invade between the curtain’s creases.</p>
<p>There was no way in hell he’d be able to get back to sleep. He didn’t want to miss a second of it. </p>
<p>He relished in the feel of her. The sound of her breathing. The heat that was produced between the connection of their bodies. The warmth that bloomed in his chest at getting to be so close. </p>
<p>Even the long hair that tickled at his face was fucking heaven. </p>
<p>Katelyn was <em>divine.</em> </p>
<p>She was something to be treasured and, fuck, but he treasured every moment of her, even just in sleep. He could barely believe that she allowed him to have this.</p>
<p>His jeans were uncomfortable, his belt buckle digging harshly into his stomach, but he didn’t want to risk waking her by shifting. The slight discomfort was worth it.</p>
<p>His arm tightened around her almost subconsciously and she shifted further onto her stomach, a sleepy sigh leaving her mouth. </p>
<p>It was the best thing in the entire world. </p>
<p>He held still, just listening. Breathing. He managed to doze, her body and her heat and her sleep-even breaths lulling him under as the brightness in the room strengthened and the hours ticked past. </p>
<p>Then she inhaled sharply, her body tightening as it stretched and Aaron roused from his doze immediately. Her body stiffened, then turned and he was greeted by the glorious look of Katelyn freshly woken, her dark almond eyes blinking over at him in the dim light. </p>
<p>“I forgot where I was for a moment,” she said, voice still soggy with sleep. Then she smiled at him and Aaron forgot how to fucking breathe. </p>
<p>If this was a dream, Aaron never wanted to wake up. </p>
<p>“Good morning,” she whispered, pressing a kiss against his nose and Aaron remembered how to breathe again. </p>
<p>“Good morning,” Aaron whispered back reverently, pressing his own kiss to her exposed shoulder. </p>
<p>His arm tightened, tugging her closer as he shut his eyes and just- breathed in the scent of her. It was warm and sweet with a hint of bodywash, and absolutely intoxicating. </p>
<p>He pressed his mouth to her skin once more and felt her shiver. It was a pleasant response so he did it again and again, hearing her hum reverberate in her chest. </p>
<p>She turned then, body moving to face him. Her thigh hooked itself over his, tugging herself closer. One arm tucked under her head and the other threaded through his hair and Aaron continued his lazy kisses along her collarbone, working his way up her throat. </p>
<p>He found a particular spot that made her gasp quietly, the sound reverberating through the otherwise silent room. He grazed his teeth and her hand tightened in his hair and she let out a noise that went directly down his spine and settled below his belt buckle. </p>
<p>Katelyn was so fucking gorgeous in the morning. He couldn’t get enough of her. </p>
<p>“Aaron Minyard, are you trying to seduce me?” she teased, but her voice was breathless and soft. </p>
<p>He didn’t respond, he just went back to that particular spot. Satisfaction thrummed through him as her neck arched, allowing him easy access. </p>
<p>She tasted so damn good. </p>
<p>Her thigh moved, slipping up to hitch around his hip, and tightened. They were fully pressed together and there was no doubt that Katelyn could feel just exactly how pleased he was to be waking up to her in the morning. </p>
<p>She ground against him in a way that was entirely on purpose and a low groan rumbled in his chest. </p>
<p>His hand rubbed up the smooth flesh of her thigh, around the curve of her ass to the small of her back, venturing under the fabric of her sleep shirt and following the divots of her spine. And down again, feeling every shift and sigh as he made his way slowly back to her knee, feeling along until he got fingers on that calf he’d been appreciating.</p>
<p>She tugged at his hair then, separating his mouth from the mark he was slowly but surely pressing into her sensitive neck. </p>
<p>Then she kissed him, opened mouthed and messy and Aaron didn’t hesitate to follow her lead. </p>
<p>Her fingers found their way under his shirt, teasing along his beltline and the softer part of his stomach, causing his abdominal muscles to clench under her touch. Her palm ran along up to his shoulder, pressing and outlining all the ridges between his muscles before her nails scraped down his front, catching on a nipple and causing him to growl lowly into her mouth.</p>
<p>His hands grew hungry then, his touch a lot less like a soothing caress, and a lot more like he was trying to brand his prints into her skin. Everywhere. Pressing, squeezing, groping; a deep massage to all her curves and edges, exploring all up her shirt and slipping teasingly into the back of her tiny little sleep shorts.</p>
<p>Katelyn made the best noises. She wasn’t loud, but she made these low, guttural hums and breathy little moans against his mouth, her fingers pressing into his skin and tugging at the roots of his hair in a way that was driving Aaron absolutely fucking wild.</p>
<p>When Katelyn bit his lip and rolled her hips again, Aaron promptly decided that the angle would no longer do. He needed better access. </p>
<p>With a handful of perfect ass he rolled Katelyn flat onto her back, her low giggle transforming to a moan as he tugged up her wonderfully loose shirt and took a mouthful of breast.</p>
<p><em>“Fuck,”</em> she swore, the word sounding positively filthy out her mouth. He took that as a challenge to see if he could get her to say it again.</p>
<p>“Aaron. <em>God-</em> wait, wait,” she tugged his head up and he followed her order. She looked so fucking sexy, her lips all red and puffy, eyes bright and pupils blown, a high flush staining her usually pale cheeks, hair loose on her pillow. Better than any fantasy his mind could have ever conjured.</p>
<p>He leaned forward and pressed their lips together. He couldn’t help himself, he wanted a taste of that mouth again.</p>
<p>She hummed and when he leaned in for another she pressed the tips of her fingers to his lips to stop him. Which, really, she should have known better. Those digits disappeared into his mouth, teeth grazing at the tips and tongue slipping between them and the sound she made was almost a squeak.</p>
<p>“You’re a menace, Aaron Minyard,” she scolded, wiping her fingers on his shirt, one hand holding him back by his shoulders before the other went to join it.</p>
<p>“It’s not the worst thing I’ve been called,” he said, his voice sounding foreign even to his own ears, all gravelly and warm like the smile tugging at his mouth.</p>
<p>She rolled her eyes and let out a huff, teeth going into her bottom lip as she looked at him. </p>
<p>He waited. Judging by the wicked smile that was trying its best to break free, he wasn’t going to be disappointed with whatever she had to say next.</p>
<p>Last time she’d looked at him like that she’d dragged him off to a deserted room and slipped his hand inside her shorts. He was absolutely down for a repeat.</p>
<p>“Do you have a condom?” she asked, voice all low and sultry and sexy as hell. Her thighs squeezed like a vice around his hips and her back arched, pressing them together in such a way that had Aaron’s mind blanking from all coherent thought.</p>
<p>“Do I-“ he started, but he needed to catch his breath back. Not only from her rolling hips but from what that question actually implied.</p>
<p>Oh, <em>fuck yes.</em> </p>
<p>But-</p>
<p>“Ngaa.. No. I don’t,” he said, breaths heavy as he looked down at her. </p>
<p>“That’s terrible foresight,” she tsked, moving her body in exaggeration and making his breath leave him in a rush. </p>
<p>“To be fair,” he breathed. “This was the last thing I was expecting,” he swallowed. “Although I am very, <em>very</em> pleased with this turn of events.”</p>
<p>She groaned, letting go of his shoulder before letting out a sigh, her gaze going over to her roommates side of the room. </p>
<p>“Ciara might have one floating around,“ she mused, but he was already shaking his head. A new plan was taking form in his mind, one he very much wanted to play out. </p>
<p>“I don’t need one,” he said, and watched her eyes narrow at him. He kissed away her protest. “Not for what I have in mind.”</p>
<p>She looked at him warily and that just wouldn’t do, so he brushed their lips together and whispered, “I wanna eat you out.”</p>
<p>Her breath stuttered and Aaron absolutely took satisfaction from that response. </p>
<p>Her hold went limp against his shoulder and she allowed him to follow the path he’d previously been making, taking his mouth to every part of her skin and working her out of those tiny little kitten print shorts. </p>
<p>He kissed at her thighs and she hissed at him and cursed his name, hand tugging at his hair and trying to direct him where she wanted him to go. </p>
<p>“Should I stop?” he teased, nudging his nose into her thigh. </p>
<p>“Don’t you dare,” she glared, voice strained and rugged.</p>
<p>“Yes ma’am,” and he grinned and finally put his mouth to the destination they both wanted. </p>
<p><em>Fuck.</em> Hearing her voice grow suitably more hoarse as breathy curses escaped from her lips made his already restrictive jeans uncomfortably tighter. </p>
<p><em>Fuck.</em> </p>
<p>He had to reach down, releasing one of her hips, to tug off his belt and unbutton his jeans just to ease off the pressure. </p>
<p>She wasn’t so quiet anymore, but she stifled her sounds with her hand and Aaron had to forcibly pin her hips to the bed as her back arched and her thighs shivered and her toes dug into his ribs as she called out his name.</p>
<p>His name from her mouth, coming out like <em>that-</em> </p>
<p>That was the best sound in the entire world. </p>
<p>She nudged him away when she got too sensitive and Aaron leaned up to press his face into the soft flesh of her stomach and just breathe. </p>
<p>“C’mere,” she called him and he followed immediately, drinking in the look of her utterly ravished state, all loose-limbed and satisfied. </p>
<p>Aaron was absolutely fucking chuffed with himself. <em>Thank you, Vanessa,</em> he thought, for having taught him exactly how to do that. </p>
<p>Katelyn kissed him, slow and lazy, getting a taste of herself, and Aaron ground his hips down on the bed because he was seriously needing something right fucking then. </p>
<p>Her legs wrapped around him and her feet shoved down his already unbuckled jeans then her hand snaked down between them and dived into his boxers and he had to release her mouth just to bury his groan into her collarbone. </p>
<p>It didn’t take long. </p>
<p>It was clear that she knew what she was doing and even though Aaron often struggled to get off by another’s hand this was <em>Katelyn.</em> </p>
<p>This was <em>Katelyn</em> and she had her glorious fucking hands on him, letting him live out a fantasy he never would have thought possible. </p>
<p>He collapsed on top of her, desperately trying to catch back his breath, feeling the sweat on their skin and the scent of their sex mingling together in an intoxicating mix. </p>
<p>They lay there, wrapped around each other, barely moving to tug up clothes and sharing lazy, uncoordinated kisses on any patch of skin they could reach. </p>
<p>There was a lightness in Aaron’s chest, a swelling under his ribcage. Breaths came easy and his mind, for once, was blissfully quiet. </p>
<p><em>This,</em> Aaron thought,<em> this could be what happiness feels like.</em></p>
<p>But all good things must come to an end and they’d barely decided to separate and attempt to clean themselves up before a warning knock sounded at the door only seconds before it cracked open. </p>
<p>“Are you decent?” the voice of Katelyn’s roommate and captain came to invade on their space. </p>
<p>Katelyn laughed, and it was such a wholly carefree sound that Aaron had to look at her and watched the way a subtle blush crested her cheekbones. </p>
<p>The door opened more and Ciara shuffled inside, eyes narrowed on the state of Katelyn’s sheets and the way Aaron was still tugging his belt back through his pant-loops. </p>
<p>“Well, this is awkward,” Ciara said, dropping her bag onto her bed and letting out a sigh. </p>
<p>“I had no idea you were such a prude,“ Katelyn teased. There was a lightness to her voice, one Aaron had heard many times before but one he’d never thought he’d get to hear again. </p>
<p>“Smart ass,” Ciara rolled her eyes, tugging a pile of clothing out of her drawers. </p>
<p>Katelyn looked at him and grinned and Aaron knew he’d keep that perfect image of her locked away with all the others. </p>
<p>“The others are stirring. You better get lover-boy out of here before he gets spotted,” her tone was heavy with warning as she sent Katelyn a look. </p>
<p>That beautiful smile started to leach from Katelyn’s face. </p>
<p>Right. Aaron had forgotten about that. He’d forgotten that he wasn’t meant to be here, wasn’t meant to be seen. The Vixens still hated the Foxes – him more specifically- and being seen here with Katelyn was only going to cause complications he didn’t want her to have to deal with. </p>
<p>It stung, but it was the truth. </p>
<p>He searched his mind, trying to remember if anyone had spotted him the night before, but all he came up with was his single-minded determination to get to her room. Everything else had been insignificant. </p>
<p>Katelyn turned her gaze on him, looking apologetic and sad, and Aaron couldn’t tolerate that look from her so instead he stepped closer and tried to kiss it away. </p>
<p>It didn’t work, but he still tried to reassure her, “I’ll try not to be spotted, Kate. Don’t worry.”</p>
<p>She bit her lip, clearly worrying. </p>
<p>It was so fucking hard to leave. </p>
<p>He scooped up his hoodie and scowled down at the stain he hadn’t noticed before pulling the hood over his head. His eyeballs itched, feeling dry, contacts trying to suffocate his cornea’s.</p>
<p>He slipped out the door and tried to look as innocuous as possible as he made his sneaky way out of the building. </p>
<p>He really hoped he hadn’t been spotted, but the twisting in his gut told him his chances were low. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>**</p>
<p>Katelyn had thought she was in the clear. </p>
<p>Despite the probability being exceptionally low, none of her Vixens mentioned a thing as they passed each other in the hall on their way to the dining hall and exams. </p>
<p>She had to tell them eventually. But. Right now. Things were still a little up in the air. Despite Aaron’s confession and him spending the night in her bed and the absolutely wonderful morning sex that still had her body singing, there was still a lot of things they had to work out. </p>
<p>The way he’d treated her, for one. </p>
<p>Where they went from here, for another. </p>
<p>If there was even a possibility of something <em>from here,</em> or if one night and one morning was all they were gonna get. </p>
<p>If Katelyn even <em>wanted</em> this to go somewhere, now that she had an understanding of the risk. </p>
<p>It was all a giant mess.</p>
<p>But she couldn’t bring herself to regret it. </p>
<p>The Vixens had their end of season meeting at their locker room, all of them gathered as coach Reed gave her speeches about teamwork and how proud she was of all of them, despite their loss at regionals. </p>
<p>The Vixens clapped when coach Reed finished, Ciara stepping up to take her spot and formally introducing Rochelle as next semester’s captain. Then came the time-honoured tradition of initiating their new captain in various ways, from dousing them in paint and glitter, to creating a slideshow of every embarrassing photo and story the others could get their hands on. </p>
<p>This year, all of Rochelle’s clothing had been snuck away and she was forced through a series of obstacles and tests wearing nothing but a slutty Psyduck costume to win them all back.</p>
<p>Katelyn laughed so hard her cheeks ached and her voice went a little hoarse.</p>
<p>But she could feel someone watching her, a prickle at the back of her neck. It was stupid, probably. Just the effect of paranoia and that sick kind of thrill at the prospect of being caught out, having to try to explain herself, having some of her friends and teammates turn on her.</p>
<p>Her nails went to her left wrist, scratching absentmindedly at the skin there. It was already a little raw, a mess of bumps and grazes turning to a rash from weeks worth of stressed attention. </p>
<p>Her oemma was going to give Katelyn that <em>look</em> when she went home if she didn’t stop irritating it and let it heal before summer holidays.</p>
<p>Her phone buzzed in her bag just as Rochelle was trying to hand out flyers for some pseudo-campaign, and Katelyn couldn’t help the way her smile turned soft and hopelessly pleased, trying to bite her lip just to stifle the stupid thing.</p>
<p>Butterflies stirred up a frenzy in her stomach.</p>
<p>
  <em>08:43 Aaron Minyard: You’re looking really good today</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>08:45 Aaron Minyard: Not in a creepy stalker way, I just saw you across the quad before.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>09:07 Aaron Minyard: I can’t stop thinking about you. If I fail my finals I want you to know that it is entirely your fault.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>09:56 Aaron Minyard: We should probably talk.</em>
</p>
<p>“Who ya texting?” Desiree came up beside her, standing directly at Katelyn’s shoulder and not even bothering to pretend that she wasn’t trying to read Katelyn’s screen.</p>
<p>“No one,” Katelyn snatched her phone possessively to her chest, leaning away from Desiree’s prying eyes.</p>
<p>“No one, huh?” Desiree gave her a sharp smile. “You sure are grinning like an idiot for ‘no one’,” and she used her hands to make obnoxious air quotes.</p>
<p>Katelyn’s stomach dropped, “It’s none of your business.” </p>
<p>“Whatever you say,” Desiree shrugged. “Just seems strange that you refuse to talk to anyone about your new secret boyfriend. Almost like you don’t want anyone to know who he is.”</p>
<p>And she looked at Katelyn and her blue eyes were a little hard, a little challenging, and Katelyn realised in that moment that Desiree knew.</p>
<p>Her mind blanked, exactly what she didn’t need as she desperately tried to think up a reply that was neither incriminating nor an outright lie.</p>
<p>“Well, maybe we’re not ready to talk about it yet,” Katelyn tried to keep her voice even.</p>
<p>“Oooh,” Desiree mocked. “Does that mean it’s getting serious? I mean, we all knew about your little fling with Dean before Christmas almost straight after it happened. Yet here you are, being all sneaky and secretive. What, are you ashamed of him or something?”</p>
<p>Katelyn narrowed her eyes, “No.”</p>
<p>“What is it then?” she pressed relentlessly. “Is he really ugly or something? Or stupid maybe? We all know how much you like the smart ones. Mother won’t be too impressed with you bringing home a himbo.”</p>
<p>“It’s none of your business,” Katelyn repeated, this time a little more forceful.</p>
<p>But Desiree refused to listen, “Or, wait. Maybe it’s because the guy’s a jerk. A real fucking asshole. The kind of guy no self-respecting woman would be caught dead with. One that even tried to hurt her and her friends.” Desiree crossed her arms and pinned Katelyn with her judgemental look, “Maybe he’s a <em>Monster.</em>”</p>
<p>Katelyn froze, feeling the blood leave her face and coldness start seeping into her bones and squeezing at her chest. She felt Desiree’s words like a kick in the gut.</p>
<p>“You don’t know what youre talking about,” she said, but her voice was wafer thin.</p>
<p>“I guess we’ll see,” Desiree said ominously, sending Katelyn a cold and mocking cheerleader smile before flouncing off to Kelsey and Jessica. Desiree pulled Jenny into a side-hug that Jenny looked mildly confused about, but Katelyn knew exactly what Desiree was trying to do.</p>
<p>Katelyn didn’t like to think terribly about others, especially other women, but <em>God</em> Desiree could be such a catty <em>bitch</em> sometimes.</p>
<p>Katelyn was angry. But more than that, she was feeling a little trepidation. She dreaded what the other Vixen was going to do with this information, and Katelyn both wanted to hide herself into her room and just get it over with.</p>
<p>There was no way that Desiree wouldn’t say anything, the only question was <em>when?</em></p>
<p>Katelyn tightened her grip on the phone in her hand, any lingering warmth from the messages having changed to something heavy in her stomach. She needed to say something, but any thought for what she could say was immediately dampened by a creeping feeling of dread. </p>
<p>Jenny came up to her then, causing Katelyn to startle slightly out of her zoning. Michelle was Jenny’s shadow and when Jenny wrapped her arms around Katelyn, Michelle followed suit and the two taller girls buried Katelyn in a tight hug that Katelyn really didn’t feel like she deserved.</p>
<p>“What was that for?” she croaked when they pulled away, clearing the dryness out of her throat.</p>
<p>“You looked like you could use a hug,” Jenny smiled, wrapping an arm around Katelyn’s stiff shoulders.</p>
<p>“Yeah, you’ve been hiding in your room for forever. We had to ask Ciara if you’d died in there,” Michelle grinned, hands slipping into her back pockets.</p>
<p>“I’ve just been studying,” Katelyn tried to send back a smile but she knew it was a little bit wobbly.</p>
<p>“Well, I say we ditch the studying tonight and have a good old-fashioned sleep over. Movies, junk food and trashy gossip,” Jenny sent Katelyn a heartfelt grin. “What do you say Kate?”</p>
<p>“Oooh, yeah. I’m in,” Michelle nodded. “Girls night. I’ll bring wine.”</p>
<p>Katelyn looked at her friends, probably the two closest and best friends she had in the Vixens, and tried to muster up the appropriate look of enthusiasm for them. She wasn’t quite sure she succeeded.</p>
<p>“Yeah. That sounds... that sounds perfect, actually.”</p>
<p>She really hoped she’d still be able to call them friends after whatever Desiree had in store for her.</p>
<p>Turns out, she didn’t have to wait long.</p>
<p>They were in their changing room, cleaning out their lockers and handing in their uniforms for cleaning and storage over the summer. They’d met the guys outside and were all just about to head off on their separate ways after their last official Vixen’s meeting for the semester.</p>
<p>She walked in step with Jenny and Michelle and the group behind her were discussing the craziest things that had happened that college year, wondering if things would finally settle down after the summer.</p>
<p>“How much worse could it possibly get?” Michelle grinned at her and Katelyn had finally started to feel that heaviness ease from her chest, and that’s when Desiree decided to drop the bomb.</p>
<p>“I dunno, I still think its kind of crazy to find out that Katelyn’s been fucking <em>Aaron Minyard.</em>”</p>
<p>The world ground to a halt, the sound of rushing water in Katelyn’s ears as she froze. </p>
<p>Katelyn stopped walking so Jenny and Michelle stopped walking and Desiree was already stopped and looking at her coldly, Kelsey and Jessica at her sides. The other Vixens all slowly came to attention around them, called by the gathering.</p>
<p>No one spoke for a long, agonising moment.</p>
<p>Then a lot of voices came at once.</p>
<p>“...no...”</p>
<p>“Get off it Des, no she’s not.”</p>
<p>“What the fuck? No way.”</p>
<p>“Stop stirring shit.”</p>
<p>“Oh please, like Katelyn doesn’t have standards,” that one was from Michelle, said as she rolled her eyes. That one stung.</p>
<p>Desiree ignored the rest of them and just stared at Katelyn, her arms crossed over her chest.</p>
<p>“Well,” she said, tone haughty. “Are you going to deny it?”</p>
<p>The world kind of shrunk down to make Katelyn feel suffocatingly small.</p>
<p>“No,” she said quietly, giving a little shake to her head, gaze dropping to the ground despite the way her pride demanded she hold her chin high.</p>
<p>“Wait a minute... no way.”</p>
<p>“What the fuck?”</p>
<p>“Aaron Minyard? As in, Fox number five Aaron Minyard?”</p>
<p>“That’d be the one.” </p>
<p>“That’s kind of fucked up.”</p>
<p>“Kate?” Jenny asked to her side, looking at her like she’d never seen her before. “You’re not serious.”</p>
<p>Katelyn pressed her lips together and turned a glare to Desiree. Desiree, for her part, at least didn’t look pleased with herself or anything otherwise satisfied with the drama she’d unleashed. She just looked pissed. </p>
<p>A harsh breath left Katelyn’s mouth and she shook her head at Desiree slowly, “wow Des, you sure know how to be a real bitch sometimes.” And she hated the way her voice cracked a little on the way out.</p>
<p>And then she had to get out of there. She turned on her heel and stalked off, fighting the uncomfortable lump in her throat. </p>
<p>Nobody stopped her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>**</p>
<p>“You can’t avoid them forever, y’know,” Ciara leaned against her desk and looked at Katelyn disapprovingly.</p>
<p>“I’m not avoiding them,” Katelyn stabbed at her keys. “I’m studying.”</p>
<p>“Riiight. Sure you are,” Ciara’s sarcasm was so thick you could choke on it.</p>
<p>Katelyn didn’t respond. Instead, she was foolishly trying to pretend that everything was fine.</p>
<p>“Well,” Ciara continued when it was clear Katelyn wasn’t going to say anything. “I’m going to get dinner. You should come.”</p>
<p>“I’m busy,” Katelyn said.</p>
<p>“Kate...”</p>
<p>“Leave it,” Katelyn snapped, then inhaled to erase her unfairly bitchy tone. “Just... please? I don’t wanna... I just want to stay here. I’ll be brave tomorrow.”</p>
<p>“Fine,” Ciara sighed, then rubbed a hand annoyingly in Katelyn’s hair. “I’ll bring you back dinner.”</p>
<p>“Thanks,” Katelyn gave her a weak smile as she left, tugging her headphones over her ears and trying to drown out any other thoughts that wanted to invade into her head.</p>
<p>She was roused later by banging, her door shaking on its hinges.</p>
<p>She yanked off her headphones and stared, the banging much louder now that her hearing wasnt restricted. A slip of paper slid under the crack in her door, joining a small gathered pile of them.</p>
<p>What the hell was going on?</p>
<p>“Kaaaaate,” a voice whined, the sound muffled by the wood. “Opeeen uuuup.”</p>
<p>“I vont to suck your bloooood,” another giggled afterwards.</p>
<p>Katelyn stood gingerly, stepping over the pile of note pages with hastily drawn anime girls in various states of undress. That’d be Jenny’s work.</p>
<p>A body almost fell through the door as she opened it.</p>
<p>“Wow, shit. My life just flashed before my eyes for a second,” Michelle grinned as she righted herself.</p>
<p>Katelyn just stared.</p>
<p>“Wait. What are you guys doing here?” she asked when she finally recovered from her shock.</p>
<p>“Uh, girls night. Obviously,” Jenny rolled her eyes, holding up a big family bag of lollies and nudging the door open.</p>
<p>“Silly Katelyn,” Michelle patted Katelyn’s head fondly as she bulled into the room, her duvet wrapped around her despite the fact that it was way too warm for covers.</p>
<p>Katelyn stood like an awkward statue by the door, watching as they piled their blankets and pillows onto her bed.</p>
<p>“We should push the beds together!” Michelle spoke loudly and excitedly, an already opened bottle swinging between her fingers.</p>
<p>“Ciara will kill us,” Jenny warned, giggling.</p>
<p>“Worth it,” Michelle decided and that was how Jenny and Michelle roped Katelyn into rearranging their small dorm to make one giant bed. Sure, there was now no access to the dressers, but that was a problem for later.</p>
<p>“What are we watching?” Katelyn asked finally, feeling a lightness of relief flutter in her chest, a happiness at the fact that she had such good friends. </p>
<p>They opened up the laptop and started up Netflix.</p>
<p>It was sometime later, halfway through a cheesy Hollywood blockbuster, that Katelyn’s phone began to ring and she suddenly remembered that she’d left Aaron on read for the last however many hours.</p>
<p>The name flashing on the screen indicated that that was exactly who was calling.</p>
<p>Katelyn bit her lip and looked up at the two pairs of eyes watching her expectantly.</p>
<p>“Well?” Jenny asked. “Are you going to answer it?”</p>
<p>Katelyn took a moment to breathe before she did.</p>
<p>“Hey,” she said, voice soft into the phone.</p>
<p>“Hey,” he said, activating those butterflies in her stomach with the sound of his voice alone.</p>
<p>“Sorry. I meant to text you back, but things got a little bit crazy and I’ve been distracted,” she explained, rubbing a hand over her face.</p>
<p>“Yeah of course. That’s fine. I just- I wasn’t even sure if you’d answer.”</p>
<p>“Why wouldn’t I answer?” she asked, fully aware of the two pairs of eyes that were staring at her and not even trying to pretend they weren’t eavesdropping.</p>
<p>A humourless laugh came over the other end, “Regrets? You’ve finally come to your senses and realised this is more complicated than you’re willing to tolerate? Take your pick, Kate.”</p>
<p>She sighed, “You’re so dramatic.”</p>
<p>“You can’t exactly blame me. We haven’t really had a chance to talk yet.”</p>
<p>“No,” she agreed, biting her lip. “We haven’t.”</p>
<p>“So... shall we talk?” he asked.</p>
<p>“Um...”</p>
<p>“Kate? If you don’t want this, just say. I- I get it.”</p>
<p>“No,” she said quickly. “It’s not that. It’s just... I’m a bit busy at the moment. Having a girls night with Jenny and Michelle.”</p>
<p>They both chose that moment to make their presence known, whistling and catcalling with dirty leers on their alcohol-red faces.</p>
<p>“Oh my god,” Katelyn groaned into the phone, feeling her face heat at her absolutely ridiculous friends.</p>
<p>“What the hell was that?” Aaron huffed a laugh on the line.</p>
<p>“Oh, y’know,” Katelyn cupped her hand around her phone. “Just two girls I’m going to smother in their sleep.”</p>
<p>“At least you’re laughing,” he said and Katelyn felt warm for an entirely different reason.</p>
<p>Then the immature woman started making kisses faces and letting out pornographic sounding moans and Katelyn thought that she better end this quickly.</p>
<p>“Sounds like you’re busy,” he said, but he sounded fond.</p>
<p>“Yeah, but. I’ll text you later, okay? And we’ll... catch up. Maybe Ciara will even be persuaded out of the room again,” Katelyn spoke lowly into the phone, her implication clear.</p>
<p>“Yeah, yep,” Aaron evidently picked up on it. “That sounds like a really good plan.”</p>
<p>“Don’t forget to bring supplies this time,” she teased, and cringed when Michelle let out a holler.</p>
<p>“Yep. Okay. I won’t. Promise. I’ll let you go then.”</p>
<p>“Okay.”</p>
<p>“Good night, Kate.”</p>
<p>“Good night... Aaron.”</p>
<p>“Bye.”</p>
<p>“Bye.”</p>
<p>Katelyn hung up and stared at her phone and pretended she didn’t notice the gazes that were burning holes in her face.</p>
<p>She pressed her lips together and completely failed at effecting an innocent look.</p>
<p>“That was so <em>sweet,</em>” Jenny said, then cringed. “Gross.”</p>
<p>Michelle sat up and moved herself right into Katelyn’s space, sitting cross-legged in front of her and hugging her pillow.</p>
<p>“So, we weren’t going to ask about it unless you decided to bring it up. Buuuut... since I’m totally counting you answering the phone as bringing it up, what the hell Kate? Be prepared to spill because I have <em>questions,</em>” Michelle took a hold of Katelyn’s arm and shook her roughly.</p>
<p>Katelyn smiled a little hesitantly, “What kind of questions?”</p>
<p>“Well, first and foremost, because I feel like we need to get this out the way,” Michelle started dramatically. “When exactly did you start to have a thing for bad boys? That is so cliché.”</p>
<p>Katelyn let out a laugh, “Um, I don’t know. I guess it just kind of creeped up on me. It certainly wasnt intentional.”</p>
<p>“And, of course, we have to know,” Jenny rolled onto her stomach and rested her head on her hands. “Is there any truth in the posters Des and them put up?”</p>
<p>“No, definitely not,” Katelyn let out a huff, a little insulted on his behalf. She didn’t think he’d mind her correcting the harmful rumour.</p>
<p>Jenny grinned wickedly, “So.. how is-“</p>
<p>“No,” Michelle put her hands over her ears. “No, don’t poison my ears with your gross hetero-sex. You can talk about that when I’m <em>not</em> here.”</p>
<p>Ciara chose that moment to come back, baring dinner.</p>
<p>“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she stood in the doorway, hand on her hip, glaring at all of them.</p>
<p>Michelle squeaked and ducked for cover, Jenny cackling like a manic and trying to follow her under. Katelyn sat in the middle of it all and blinked innocently, “Um, sleepover?”</p>
<p>Ciara sighed, kicking the door shut behind her.</p>
<p>“Fine, but the only bed I’m sitting on is mine, you can keep your nasty sex-tainted sheets to yourself,” she slipped onto her side of the bed as the girls unburied themselves and grinned shamelessly at her.</p>
<p>“Michelle, hand over that bottle. I’m way too sober for this,” Ciara held out her hand. After a few swallows she asked, “Right, what are we watching?”</p>
<p>“Actually, we were just interrogating Katelyn about her boyyyfrieeeend,” Jenny taunted.</p>
<p>“Ooooo,” Michelle teased.</p>
<p>“Well, there’s only one question that I really care about,” Ciara said, voice sharp. Then she turned to Katelyn and an absolute wicked smirk crested the side of her mouth. “Is he a ‘giver’?”</p>
<p>Katelyn immediately thought about the devastating grin Aaron had given her right before he’d buried his face between her thighs that morning. Her face lit on fire at the memory.</p>
<p>“Oh yeah,” she nodded with a stupid smile, feeling a little bit naughty, a little but pleased, and absolutely ridiculous. “He’s a giver, alright.”</p>
<p>Jenny and Michelle hooted a chorus.</p>
<p>Ciara tipped up her bottle in cheers and drank to that.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>**</p>
<p>The hardest part about finding time alone wasn’t even bribing/pleading with Ciara to get her out of the room, but trying to find time between studying, exams and other commitments. </p>
<p>And, as Katelyn was recently discovering, Aaron’s brother.</p>
<p>Now that Aaron had talked about Andrew a bit, it was like it had opened up a door and more words about it started pouring out. </p>
<p>Seeing each other was difficult, but they managed to speak on the phone at least once every day. Sometimes they were good conversations, sometimes they were painful ones. But each one just kept ending with the same conclusion: they wanted to try and make this work, despite the obstacles in their way.</p>
<p>Aaron told Katelyn about his three previous girlfriends, one of which had dumped him only a few weeks after Andrew had come into his life.</p>
<p>Andrew hadn’t hurt them, he’d said. But he had scared them. He’d impersonated Aaron on occasion, and had eventually managed to drive them off.</p>
<p>After the last... that was when Aaron had just given up on dating all together. He didn’t want to bring another woman into their fucked-up situation, and trying to explain it to anyone wasn’t exactly an option. </p>
<p>Katelyn could still barely wrap her head around it all.</p>
<p>But, he’d said, he wanted her to know exactly what she could be in for. Why sometimes he couldn’t answer her calls, or couldn’t spend time with her, why they had to keep their distance in public.</p>
<p>It wasn’t going to be easy, and Katelyn was already feeling a little resentful, but.... </p>
<p>But.</p>
<p>But the way she felt for Aaron felt like it could be the real deal. </p>
<p>It was early days yet, and there was so much more they had to work through, so many more challenges ahead of them. Maybe they’d get further along and decide that it wouldn’t work out. Maybe this wasn’t meant to be.</p>
<p>Or, maybe, they’d unearthed something that both of them were willing to fight to keep.</p>
<p>Katelyn didn’t know, neither did Aaron, but they decided to try.</p>
<p>After all, who knew just what this new semester would bring?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>aaaand.... we're at the end.<br/>I was meant to end this on some more sexy times. Whoops.</p>
<p>Please do let me know if I got something wrong, or if my formatting didnt quite work out because I've only had a chance to skim-read and not check properly.</p>
<p>Not gonna lie, I'm relieved this is finally over (and so is the rest of my family)</p>
<p>Thanks so much for reading, I hope you managed to enjoy this. Definietly make sure you hit up all the other fic's in this collection because that is absolutely what I am about to do right now.</p>
<p>Feel free to throw your opinion's at me, I'll take any.</p>
<p>:)</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks so much for reading!<br/>Comments and Kudos are always appreciated :)<br/>(if you want to throw some complaints my way, I will not blame you, k?)</p><p>Go check out more of fornavn/fornavngoessexy's art on tumblr, and make sure you read all the other amazing fics in this year's Reverse Big Bang. There are so many good ones and I've been DYING to finally get a chance to read them.</p><p>I'm notetoself-thisisserious on Tumblr and I mostly just get drunk and reblog a million things about AFTG, but feel free to hit me up if you have any questions/concerns etc.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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